G's Heartfelt Memories of Auron and Rikku
by Calesvol
Summary: Experience the quiet simplicity and joy as Rikku and Auron discover their love, share laughter and tears, and experience the miraculous world of Spira, in all of its shrouded mystery and natural beauty, and captivating stories of the past. T for now. Auron/Rikku
1. When I Waited For You

_G's Heartfelt Memories of Auron and Rikku proudly presents..._

When I Waited For You

(Warnings: T for safety, Fluff, some sextiems, het, May-December romance, 100% Aurrikku)

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><p>"Rikku, I just don't get you. Why do you keep turning me down? Lots of people said that we'd be perfect for each other!" Gippal cried in a languishing protest as Rikku stormed from the cloistered confines of a Luca cafe. Gippal trailed after the young girl as she stormed away from him, hands balled into clenched fists at her side.<p>

"I don't like you that way. Please leave me alone," Rikku warned, keeping her stunning emerald eyes trained on the busy thoroughfare of Luca's main plaza. Hands met with her shoulders, and Rikku whirled around, facing Gippal with a flaring indignition in her eyes.

"What?" she demanded brusquely, plush lips pulled into a delicate frown. She folded her arms across her chest, the spiky-blonde haired man before her trying her patience. She usually wasn't so angry, a stark contrast to her normally childish playfulness, but it was never a good idea to anger an Al Bhed with a plethora of devices stashed away.

Gippal raised his hands up in placation. "Listen, I'm not trying to force anything on you, but can you at least let me explain myself?" he asked imploringly of the young former Guardian, she calming down just the slightest.

"I'm not trying to antagonize you, alright? I know that I try to push on you sometimes, and I'm sorry for that. But can you at least tell me why? Why don't we sit down?" Gippal gestured to a small bench surrounding a shapely, geometric transmission tower. He sat first, Rikku reluctantly following suit.

"Rikku, I like to think of you as a friend, or at least an acquaintance. We were allies just a few months ago, after you three defeated Veganagun and Yuna's boyfriend came back. And I know that you and Yuna are probably too popular for your own good to be treated normally. I get it. And, well, I figured someone like you might get lonely from time to time, what with you worrying for your cousin and cuz of your fame," Gippal said gently, gazing at Rikku in earnest.

Rikku glanced down at her lap, fiddling with absent interest in the fringe of her scarf, stroking the tied ends.

Gippal just sighed at their silence, and continued. "The people of Spira owe you guys a lot. You're a legendary Guardian now, and I thought maybe I could make you feel a little less lonely. I'm not as shallow as you may think."

Rikku sighed sadly, feeling tears surging into her eyes, glistening like fallen stars at the corners. She sniffed, never having felt so vulnerable in so long. She'd been trying for forget her crush on _him _and acknowledge that he was gone, in peace. She wanted to forget how hopelessly she'd fallen in love with him, with his nobility and selfless heart. Rikku wished that his valiant form could exist before her as more than just a fuzzy sphere, of his younger self. She wished she could forget how she would go to Zanarkand alone and watch his death played before as a hollow memory. She wished that she could stop going to the Farplane in a futile attempt to conjure up his form, only to be rewarded with nothingness.

"I'm...still waiting for _him_," Rikku replied softly, feeling a binding sadness claim her throat. Gippal sympathetically placed a reassuring hand on the former Gullwings' shoulder.

He watched with a piqued interest as she reached into her one of her hip pouches and pulled out a small globe, a sphere, that pulsated with weaving, crystalline light that radiated beautiful patterns into her hands. She held it and stroked it tenderly, sniffing for one final time and sucking in a calming breath. A small smile alighted on her beautiful face and she placed it away, bouncing to the balls of her feet, a radiant smile now becoming her gorgeous features, hair springing animatedly with her playful exuberance.

"Thank you for being such a good friend, Gippal! I feel a lot better now!" Rikku chirped, but even Gippal could see that it was forced and somewhat strained.

"Hey, are you sure? If you want to talk more—"

"Sorry! I gotta leave! I've got places to be. It comes with being a 'legendary guardian,' ya know?" Rikku giggled before rushing away to the docks where her Brother's airship lay in waiting.

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><p>Rikku jumped from the belly of the magnificently large airship, reminiscent of a motorcycle with its pimped, flame decaled fore-mechanisms and burning crimson exterior. It was too flashy for Rikku's tastes, but she remembered that Brother had decorated the restored Airship in that style, probably to impress upon Yuna some admiration for him.<p>

She was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to pay mind to the garish airship as it lifted away and left her alone.

The young girl lay her eyes on the sprawling, abandoned expanse of Zanarkand, the beautiful ruins looming before her, marked with pockets of water and exclaimed by jutting infrastructures, emphasized by great, looming, softened and curved structures with countless intricate details rising to meet the sky in quiet greeting. The setting sun was beginning to sink behind heavenly clouds of violet, peach, and pink, bursting forth with sunbeams split and blocked by the ancient city. Rikku gazed at the skeletal, deathly quiet derelicts with reverence and respect, the monkeys of months before long since clearing out for more fertile regions of Spira. Because of the mandate set by her and Yuna, Zanarkand once again become a beautiful mausoleum occupied only by the restless paths of pyreflies and memories.

She came to the hill where they had spent their first night, sitting at the place she clearly remembered him occupying two years before. The remnants of a fireplace were a distant memory to the charred logs and scattered ash that remained. The rocky terrain was ungratefully uncomfortable to her scantily clad form, but casts of meager, glowing sunlight provided subtle warmth that were gathered by her warm, healthy skin. The chill was lessened, even with Zanarkand's close proximity to the frightening and brutal heights of Mt. Gagazet.

Rikku became lost in that last evening they'd spent together, clearly visualizing their troop was they huddled around that last campfire in grim contemplation down to the last detail. When she remembered _his _strong and silent demeanor around them, of his sturdiness and strength, she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes once more.

"I wish you were here," Rikku whispered to no one, the pyreflies a neutral and silent audience to her morning. She curled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them in a futile attempt to keep warm.

When her longing for him became too strong, she would always play the spheres of him with his comrades every night before bed, a time-consuming process, that if not done, would make her sleep fitful. It seemed that her entire day existed around thoughts of him, and when not busy sphere hunting for Brother or asked to perform odd jobs, she would retreat here to Zanarkand and relay _his _death over and over again at the pyreflies behest.

Rikku opened her eyes again after removing herself from her sad reminiscence, standing firmly up on her feet. She trudged in a daze over obstacles of human ruination and the rocky terrain, basking in the faltering beams of the sunset, cupping the earth and her in plays of shadow and light.

Soon, the temple dome loomed in its grand presence before it, carrying a strong air of silent nobility and quiet thought, regal in all of its dressings. She entered through it, her mind a complete blank as she navigated its regality, dodging over obstacles with a highly practiced grace, something that would've been unknown to her years before. Her heart began to swell with melancholy and an unnamed emotion that filled her whenever she neared where its replay would begin.

The maze became stifling before it released her into the cloister before the trials, which had been conquered long ago by Yunie, she, and the other guardians. It was a hollow memory to her now, and she passed through it effortlessly, soon coming to the sanctuary that came before the room that was supposed to house the final aeon, and Yunalesca.

Rikku came to it, and closed her eyes, and in a flash of bright light, his apparition appeared before her.

Young Auron had been extremely handsome then, as he had been when she first laid eyes upon him. He stood with a stoic calm that often punctuated every encounter with him. Rikku walked to the young man, emptily embracing him around his waist, stiffly holding his arms there, quietly listening to the dissonance of his voice, the shaking of his confidence and cool as he resolved, finally, to avenge his fallen comrades.

"I know you're scared, Auron, but if you and I were here, now, in this moment, would my love for you give you strength to live?" Rikku asked tearfully as the hologram of her love escaped her tender embrasure and sprinted up the stair, Rikku hot on his heels, eyes awash with tears.

Rikku followed him into the swirling vortexes that surrounded them, the empty maw of space that consumed the little platform they were now both on. While Yunalesca had been banished to the Farplane two years before, the illusion of her and Auron remained, forever preserved in the existence of pyreflies. Rikku numbly watched as Auron screamed in emotional, heartbreaking despair before her, charging at the apparition of Yunalesca with unmatched fury and sorrow, then sent rebuffed harshly by the woman's terrifying power. Rikku cried out, as she always did, and rushed to Auron's limp form. She wept profusely over his prone body, bawling loudly, releasing the pent up emotions she'd been regularly feeling.

Her sobs began to only quietly subside as both of the mirages were claimed by glowing pyreflies, rising like the smoke of a funeral pyre above, melting into the inky and starry blackness above, fusing into a dancing ring.

Rikku limply dropped her hands, sniffing one last time before staring blankly, eyes fixated at the space where the Auron of the past had been, hands caressing its stony cold, heart beating erratically into her throat.

Standing to a shaky rise, she searched behind a fallen pillar where she retrieved a musty blanket and bedroll, as well as well-used pillow, flat and limp. She numbly rolled it out, sinking into its warmth gratefully before pulling the blanket over her tired form. Pulling off her pouches, pulling the blanket over her head like a child sneaking a book to read at night, and found the ten spheres garnered during their travels, which had been vital to helping Auron learn his Overdrives. However, before the journey's end, she'd stolen them all, and as far as the others had been concerned, they'd been lost during their final battle with Sin.

She began to watch them in sequential order, the recoil of light playing across her face, staining her eyes with these precious images that she treasured dearly. She watched them through once, and when she was finished, she put all but one away, since she needed to sleep with one to feel secure.

In this weekly ritual, she would be picked up in the morning by Brother, whom she'd convinced that she needed this weekly ritual in order to keep from going insane. He didn't know that she did it to relive Auron's last moments, which she did to keep from deluding herself with a false hope of her precious swordsman of ever returning, as Tidus had.

The former High Summoner had been living on Besaid in peace ever since with her lover, while Rikku continued her life in distraction and despair.

Rikku rolled on her back and gazed at the endless velvety expanse of stars and swirling galaxies glowing radiantly. She sighed one last time and rolled on her side, pulling the sheets over her head. She stroked the feebly glowing orb lying next to her, kissing it softly and pulling it close to her bosom before falling asleep.

She thought that she could her the soft trudging of heavy footfalls from behind, but she was too tired to care as she fell into yet another uncertain sleep.

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><p>Her dreams were strange, much different from the uncertain nightmares she was accustomed to experiencing every night. She awoke with a start, eyes clouded with a morning opaqueness, but the world around her was still the starry surroundings from the night before.<p>

Something felt different.

Her resting surface was uneven, yet firm and heated. She felt scared now, since she sense that she was resting on someone's lap, and she instantly was awake. Smart enough, she peered gently around, the hair that exploded from her partial head wrapping flowing with her. Al Bhed eyes transfixed themselves on the person who was supporting her, and she fearfully gasped.

Before her rested the handsome being that was Auron, said man snoring softly as he rested against one of the few standing pillars. Rikku's eyes immediately flooded with tears, and she slowly rose, shaking her head in disbelief, voice stumbling between Al Bhed and English, tears constricting her throat.

"How could you?" she whispered accusingly to the pyreflies daintily drifting above in their endless cycle. "Do you _like_ torturing me like this? How could you make him so real? How dare you!" She huffed, exasperated, her knees then giving way and buckling to the floor. She began sobbing profusely once again, her eyes becoming too heated and searing for her to bear, but the tears' assault was ceaseless. She curled herself into a ball, desperately praying for the illusion to disappear and to be replaced by air, the way it should be. Her eyes were squeezed shut, tears leaking forth and stinging her cheeks.

She felt a rough leather glove touch her back, and a familiar, deep voice that she had yearned for desperately spoke, "It's not the pyreflies. I am here, and I am as real as you."

Rikku shook her head defiantly. "Stop it! Please, just stop! Why would you return? You died twelve years ago! You were dead when we met!" she cried, voice peaking and then trembling, breaking.

The hand became a tender caress that gently massaged her aching back.

"I'm not an unsent, Rikku. I am here. Because I assisted in saving Spira from Sin twice, the remaining power of the fayth decided to grant me clemency and used the last of their power to fully resurrect me. I'm alive, Rikku, just as much as you," Auron said softly. "I've been alive for a year, and when I heard about what you and Yuna did for Spira, defeating Vegnagun. I was amazed, and sought you out. When I'd given up hope that I could find you or Yuna, I came here and I've been living in Zanarkand for the past few weeks. When I saw you, and what you said about me, my memory, I didn't know what to think. I watched as you cried...you cried for me. No one ever has before, not even when I died."

Rikku slowly sat up, matching gazes with Auron, though it was limited because of his defunct right eye. She reached up and cautiously touched his face with her partially gloved hand, feeling the roughness of his stubble and the feeling of his tanned skin flowing beneath her fingertips. She gingerly touched the etching of his scar, letting it slip beneath her fingertips. Not wanting to stray into awkward territory, she lowered her hand, lowering her gaze as well.

"You don't have any reason to be here, Sir Auron. You know well enough that you're really admired by everyone... You should start your life over and live in peace..." Rikku replied quietly, feeling that her happiness was stifled by that reality.

In Zanarkand two years before, Rikku had confessed her feelings to Auron. She's kept it limited to "like you as more than just a friend," but the oldest man in their party had flatly refused her, crushing her hopes. They'd been distant up until he was sent, finally, by Yuna, creating an enormous hole in her heart. And she'd been suffering through the past few years because of it, finally able to release her sorrow when the Gullwings had disbanded for good, no longer hindered by her consideration for others.

"Yes, but I've been wondering. Why me, Rikku? Look at you; you're a beautiful young woman, a legendary guardian, who could easily acquire any man she wanted. Why would you desire for a broken man who lost at life long ago?" Auron asked softly, crouching down to her level, keeping contact as minimal as possible.

Rikku worked up a forlorn smile, her cheeks rampant with teary-stained trails, her eyes bloodshot. However, all Auron could see was a flawless angel, a beauty that easily trumped the appearance of the one he'd been sent to wed all those years ago. She was more beautiful than any woman he'd ever set eyes upon, with a delicate yet strong character that completed such a lovely image. He suddenly realized that very thought of her in the arms of another man nauseated him greatly, but he kept it to himself.

"You don't see yourself the way I do, Sir Auron... You're so strong...and handsome," she shyly added, "and noble. You were willing to sacrifice it all for our sakes, and you're so captivating. When I was, and am, with you, I feel more protected even if I were really strong. When I come here, to watch you, even though I always felt miserable from watching your death, I also felt a little stronger because I was here. Even your memory made me always feel safe enough to come here and sleep alone. To me, you're the strongest man in the whole world..." She let her gaze fall, too embarrassed to face Auron after her confession.

She averted his gaze, cautiously adding, "A-And, ya know, I know it's kinda weird for me to like _like _you, but I'll _completely _buzz off if it's waaay to weird for you, I mean, I would... I mean, you know...cuz I know I'm..."

Her prattling was instantly halted by a strong embrace, feeling as a warm muscled arm and one crimson cloaked encircled her, enveloping her in a circle of warmth. She felt blissful in his arms, the void in her heart starting to slowly fill.

"Rikku, please listen to me," Auron requested of her, holding her close to his feverishly warm breastplate, the intensity of his body heat shocking her. Her ear was practically touching his throat, as she could hear him thickly swallow as he grasped for the words to say.

"Yeah?" Rikku asked, delighting in the twitching of his skin as she pressed herself closer to his chest, reveling in his _life_, letting him feel the softness of her bosom. His face heated intensely, realizing what a woman Rikku had become. He gruffly cleared his throat, holding Rikku closer, beginning to like the feel of Rikku's womanly body against his own. In the long existence of his life, never before had he been so intimate with a woman, much less one as beautiful as Rikku.

For her, this felt so surreal, so beautiful. Two years of loneliness finally culminated to this, something she had yearned so passionately for for the longest of times.

Auron struggled to grasp for the right words to say, his hands touching the lithe body in his arms, feeling a sensation, a heat, rise through him, heating him pleasantly and to distraction.

Releasing her slightly, he gently pulled his collar from his neck, laying the cowl gently at his side. In the darkness and in the light, he studied the face of the woman who loved him, studying the concave lines of her oval-shaped face, her plump lips, those mezmerizingly large eyes he could gladly lose himself in.

Tentatively, he experimentally kissed her, their lips barely brushing at first, but then Auron felt this overwhelming urge to return more strongly. Rikku was extremely receptive, even when Auron pulled her on his lap and she, in turn, wrapped her arms around his neck, eliciting soft sounds of contentment from the older male. His hand began to circle her waist, the other free to raise her chin up to accommodate their height differences.

Rikku's eyes opened wide as an engrossed Auron began to tip to the side, meaning that Rikku was soon going to be smothered by his weight, which she wasn't sure she'd be looking forward to.

The older male used his braced and gloved hand to support the small of the girl's back, his height, weight, and build dwarfing the small frame now under him. He used his bare bicep as a pillow for her swan-like neck, initiating a platoon of kisses, coming back again and again for her agonizingly soft lips. He changed course, directing his kisses to her neck, his large, calloused hand creeping around her neck, dipping into her bikini top and feeling the softness of her small breast, causing Rikku to whimper in shameful protest, but was met with a lustful, silencing eye that overwhelmed her sensually.

He continued his blissful ministrations, gently groping her breast, causing Rikku to gasp a moan hotly, her head craning back as her mind was assaulted by an array of strange sensations that scared her. She arched into him, vulnerable to Auron now, who began to sweetly kiss her neck and collarbone, dipping down to kiss the side of her breasts, where he removed his hand.

"Horny old perv!" Rikku gasped accusingly, gaining a weathered eye from Auron, the man's mouth set in a dead line, but he dipped down against her will, making the girl completely mailable to his ministrations, showing no indication of being turned on or anything of the like. Rikku was somewhat frustrated by how calm and composed Auron was, but realized that this was Auron, a man much older than her and filled to the brim with...suppressed "needs." As far as he let on, he'd never had a sexual encounter in the entirety of his life, so it would be only natural that he would come on strongly now. Still, it made her somewhat starstruck at how different they were because of their ages.

"You can't escape me," he whispered huskily into her ear, still managing to stay in character despite their situation, which caused her face to heat up intensely. He licked the earlobe enticingly, causing Rikku to squeeze her eyes shut, blushing intensely.

Rikku squirmed from beneath him, snatching his cowl and clutching it like a pillow. She scooted a few feet away, watching him with adorable wide-eyes, like a doe in the headlights.

She mischievously smiled, flashing a pointer finger at him. "Ha! I escaped you!" she ridiculed in good-nature, giggling into her hand victoriously. She leapt to her feet and began skipping, probably delirious from the fact that Auron was _alive_ and none of what had happened between them felt _real _and that he'd actually returned her feelings-and they had made out—

"—Hey!"

Her self-fanfare was interrupted by her being scooped into a muscled pair of arms, not even straining to carry her. She pulled his cowl over his head in the blink of an eye, doing so to act like a muzzle between her and this suddenly sexually needy man, averting his single eye sheepishly.

"You seem to like dressing in a sexually provocative way," Auron remarked casually, stooping down to grab Rikku's abandoned pouches in a hand, tossing her slightly, causing the girl to cling to his neck fearfully.

"Well, Yunie and I wanted to dress differently for a change..." Rikku faltered, realizing that dressing incognito had been her bright idea in the first place...

He just chuckled to himself and began the trek down the stair, holding Rikku with ease, the girl many times lighter than any sword he'd ever wielded. She was the first woman he'd ever held in his arms like this.

Rikku's head dropped, and she raised it again, giving Auron a pleading look. "Auron, I-I...have to know. Are you really here...for good? Yunie...she told me that she's afraid of Tidus being taken back, and it scares her. Now that you're alive, how can I be sure?" He voice trembled, and tears began to bubble up once more in her eyes, drowning her vision.

Auron perked to attention at the younger girl's concerns, hearing soft sniffle escape from her nose. He decided to haul her a little higher, creating more intimate contact between them. He raised his head a little higher and propped the cowl down, his face now superseding it. Rikku gazed at him with wide, innocuous, adorably watery eyes.

He gently parted her lips with his tongue, and she gladly received him, their tongues coiling together. She tightened her grip around his neck, deepening it ever so slightly for the fiery older man. She hugged him tightly when they broke apart, almost to the point of suffocation, her head now opposite his face.

"Rikku...I love you...and I swear to protect you. You said before that I was your strength...well, now, as a man, I will protect you forever," Auron swore, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck and shoulder, feeling his stubble and scratchy beard against her smooth skin, his heated breath as he breathed in her wonderful scent deeply.

Rikku's eyes opened wide at Auron's confession, feeling the tears in her eyes rush forward anew. The older man set her down, stooping slightly to accommodate her shorter height, pulling her into a tight embrace that forced her to stand on the tips of her toes as she clung to his neck.

They parted slightly, but not before Auron kissed her tenderly, practically sucking out her fears with his breathtaking kiss.

Reluctantly the parted, Auron nuzzling her face and neck, placing fleeting kisses along her neck. He ceased it just as suddenly, pulling his exposed arm into his long haori and letting Rikku take his massive, gloved hand in hers. Her hand was so small, so feminine...

"I can call Brother to pick us up. Where would you like to go? What should we do...together?" Rikku asked tentatively, holding Auron's hand gently, while he never wanted to let go.

They picked their way through the bowels of the temple, Auron thoughtfully considering what Rikku had said.

"I'd like to go to Besaid. I'd like to say hello to Yuna and Tidus, as well as Wakka and Lulu," Auron said, smiling faintly.

"Yeah, I haven't seen them in months... Didja hear about Yuna and Tidus?" Auron quirked an eyebrow, now very interested.

Rikku's face split into a beaming smile. "Tidus proposed! They're gonna be married in a couple of months. Oh! And didja know that Wakka and Lulu had a child together? He's sooo cute!" the young girl gushed, squealing at the thought of their cute child, Vidina. "Oh yeah, didja know that you, me, Yunie, Tidus, and Kimahri are his godparents? It's so cool! Man, I'd love to have kids someday...I told Tidus about it once, since, ya know, I think it'd be nice to not be the youngest. I wanna be like Lulu, and have a nice, cozy family and settle down someday..."

Auron smiled at her dreaminess. "I'd like to live on Besaid, myself. This body has had two pilgrimages already, and I think it's about time I settle down," he sighed, thinking of how pleasant it would be to live on that beautiful island. "If I remember correctly, there's an abandoned encampment from the time of Sin. You found it, remember? I think it would be very pleasant to spend the rest of my days with a beautiful Al Bhed woman and create a home for the two of us. I've never had a real home before," he hinted, squeezing her hand.

Rikku stopped short. Gazing at him, she watched, transfixed, as he continued. "Besaid is a beautiful place. I think it would be a wonderful place to finally start a family." He looked at her pointedly, and her face became consumed by a blush.

She felt an intense happiness well within her, summoning tears to her eyes once again. These were tears of joy, a bittersweet mix of reality and joy, like when they'd defeated Sin for good and yet Auron had been sent by Yuna.

It was overwhelming, perhaps too overwhelming. All at once he not only returned her feelings, but wanted to live the remainder of their lives together. She thought of Home, of its destruction, of how much the world had suffered in the wake of Sin, slowly rebuilding itself in the Eternal Calm. She thought of Yuna, who had endured the same sadness she secretly harbored for two years, both having lost the men they loved. She thought of the joy Yuna was bursting with as of a month ago after vanquishing Vegnagun, Spira's final abolished threat. She thought of how Yuna would be living with the man she loved, and of how a family of their own would begin. And finally, she thought of herself, and of Auron, and how now their chance of happiness splayed itself before them in beautiful radiance.

She smiled in disbelief, and hands holding back stuttered words and burbling tears. She was happy, happier than she would've thought possible.

Gazing up at Auron, at his balanced smile and relaxed face, she couldn't think, but her mind blurted out what she never thought she'd say, her body moving for her. She fell on one knee, scrubbing away her tears. From her pouch, she pulled out one of the Jecht Spheres, making sure it was her favorite one of the three men on Besaid, her mind jumbling her thoughts into a blissful and awkward array. She held out the sphere and offered it to him, he considering it in surprise.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she blurted, "W-Will you marry me?" her voice squeaking awkwardly, her heart leaping and thudding against her chest. Realizing what she just said, she squealed in embarrassment and dropped the orb, prattling on in Al Bhed, incomprehensible to the older guardian. Her face was the deepest shade of red possible, but Auron couldn't help but smile, feeling a great wave of peace wash over him, at her acceptance of his feelings, his desires for the future.

He seized the girl and whirled her around, pulling her in for a steady yet silencing kiss. He gathered her in his arms, kissing her neck. "Yes, I will." Rikku practically dissolved into his embrace, feeling dizzy about this happening all at once. "But, I think that I should be the husband, if you don't mind," he said teasingly, kissing her one last time, wiping away her tears with his gloved hand.

She became dizzy all over again, although Auron didn't seem to mind supporting his fiance around her waist. That term for her sounded like a bell through his mind, and the realization of this girl, who'd once inspired nothing but irritation because of his forbidden feelings for her, would become his wife made his heart glow with pride. After over twelve years of turmoil, after years of wandering and of sadness, of loss, now he finally found his happiness.

And her name was Rikku.

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><p>Last thoughts: I thought it would be about time that I created a little anthology for these two. Now, whether this couple will have chappies in sequential order, I'm not sure. But I thought it would be fun to start a little anthology for my fav FFX couple, which resulted in this! I think I'll try to create some action here or there, but I don't want to to overdo it with some epic new story or whatevs. It'll probably mostly be domestic, peppered with adventures here and there. I really hope that you Aurrikku fans will like this!<p>

Once more, welcome to G's Heartfelt Memories of Auron and Rikku!

This is dedicated to everyone whose lives were touched by this game as much as I was...as well as every Final Fantasy that touched our hearts!

~Peace, G.


	2. The Journey There

_G's Heartfelt Tales of Auron and Rikku proudly presents..._

The Journey There

(Warnings: T, romance, action, guts 'n gore, craziness, mushiness, 75% Aurrikku)

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><p>Brother sputtered in disbelief at the reappearance of Auron once the couple was safely aboard, Auron surveying the bridge with a detached interest, Rikku bounding over to Shinra, eagerly hugging the young Al Bhed who yelped in surprise, having been engrossed in the computer work he was perpetually working on.<p>

"You-YOU! What are you doing hereh?" Brother exclaimed, sputtering brokenly as he poked Auron with fervor, the older man sighing tiredly, gazing at Rikku was who busily chatting up the youngest member aboard the Celcius.

"You seem to be doing well, compared to yesterday," Shinra observed, his voice belaying an intelligence beyond his years. Rikku balanced herself on the balls of her feet, watching the columns of binary code cascading down the screen with a half-interest.

"Sir Auron is here," she said, voice carried in sing-song. Shinra didn't make any motion of interest, only nodding his head absently. Rikku growled softly, whirling the boy's chair around, a determined smile fetching her face and his attention.

"What?" Shinra asked in a small voice, a little taken aback by Rikku's excitement. She took his hands and rocked them excitedly back and forth, then turning to Brother and Buddy, taking their hands as well, Brother yelping at the shock of suddenly being displaced. Buddy raised an eyebrow, but then just shook it off and nodded his head for Rikku to continue.

Part of her wanted to burst out the good news, but a quick motion for 'no' on Auron's part prompted her to say something else. "Well, and I think you'll really like this, Shinra; Sir Auron was brought back to life from being an Unsent!" Shinra seemed dazed, although it was impossible to read his expression when he was buried beneath his heavy and cumbersome full-body suit.

"That's incredible!" Shinra marveled. "To bring back the dead...Yevon!" The child prodigy flopped back into his seat, furiously mashing keys with an inhuman fervor. "I'll have to interview you later on your experience, Sir Auron," he added over his shoulder.

Auron looked uncomfortable, unused to being the center of attention in, really, any situation. "I think I'll go and rest," he mumbled, turning away and heading back up the stairs, heavy boots clanking resoundly through the bridge. The automatic metal door slid open, a loud puff of air left in his wake.

Rikku glanced at the other three males, clearing her throat. "Um. I'll go help get him settled..." She made a dash to the automatic door, tapping her fingertips secretively together before dashing through. "Oh, yeah, we have news that we'll be sharing in a bit..." She giggled before disappearing, leaving a stunned group of fellow Al Bhed behind.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Brother broke the silence, the other two just sighing and returning to their posts.

* * *

><p>Auron felt a slender pair of arms encircle his waist, and he smiled, touching those hands with his gloved hand and keeping it there. He sighed happily, readying himself to turn and embrace his beautiful wife-to-be, but he was too late as the feisty young girl darted away and began to skip towards the lift.<p>

"Come on, Sir Auron!" she called happily, practically bouncing on her feet.

The older man soon reached her side, Rikku taking his free arm and looping it through. "You have to meet Barkeep, our Hypello friend! He's really cool! Oh! And I have to show you the deck, and the engine room—"

"While we're here, can you change your clothes as well?" Auron interrupted, staring ahead stoically, like always.

Rikku pouted. "Aw, why?" she whined. "I like this outfit! It's great for what I do, and versatile, like when I'm fighting! Or being a thief..."

Auron cleared his throat, his voice softening somewhat, almost inaudible under the mechanical heave of the lift carrying them upwards. "As my fiance, and as a man, your clothing is provocative... It conveys a message of your availability for partnership, and I think that as a young woman, your clothes are inappropriate..."

Rikku broke off from his arm. "Racy? Is that what you think? Well, I-I guess I can see where you're coming from... Huh. I was so used to it, I didn't think anything of it. Guess that's why Gippal would never leave me alone...and lots of guys were like that, now that I think about it..." Rikku considered thoughtfully, completely oblivious to the subtle waves of jealousy radiating from the crimson-cloaked swordsman.

Auron quirked a lone eyebrow, his one eye studying the worried-looking girl. "Who pursued you, now?"

She started slightly, but then a slow smile crept onto her features when she realized that Auron was jealous. Taking it in stride, she mused, "Oh, he's just an Al Bhed like me. He's a little older, and he tried asking me out for months...gosh, almost got into a bar fight with another guy when they both got drunk and wanted to date me. I was just there for some reconnaissance, to boot. Nothing to get so worked up over~"

She patiently waited for his reaction, which came as a quick swig from his jug of Nog, affixing it back to his belt when he finished. Her nose wrinkled at the scent of alcohol when he hoffed out a breath. It puzzled her as to why he drank it in the first place.

"Uh, Sir Auron? We're here..." Rikku stated awkwardly, stepping off the lift and just sighing, hearing as Auron heavily clanked behind her like a suit of armor. His expression was unreadable beneath his high cowl and sunglasses, which irked her somewhat.

She sprinted ahead, charging through the door. Auron followed suit. The weary swordsman watched as his young fiance leapt over the bar counter, squealing, "Barkeep!" and giving the small framed Hypello a great hug, causing the creature to start slightly, although he seemed accustomed to the thief's great exuberance.

Still in her embrace, she directed the amphibious creature's attention to Auron. "Barkeep, this is Sir Auron, the Legendary Guardian of awesome! He helped defeat Sin twice in a row! Cool, huh?"

"Zhat ish verey impresshive, yesh?" the Hypello nodded, returning Rikku's embrace once. "Oh, yesh, we go to Luca, yesh? Zhat ish what Brozher wanted me to tell you, yesh?"

Auron nodded, heaving himself on a bar stool and considering the vast array of liquor spread in gleaming glass rows. Rikku bounded over the bar with surprising adroitness, almost catching the older man off guard.

"Alright, I'm going to go find some 'appropriate clothes' to wear, alright? Why don't you chat with Barkeep? Make yourself at home!" Rikku said cheerfully, invitingly. Eying the plethora of liquor, Auron had other ideas.

As she bounded up the narrow set of stairs to the back, she loudly added, "No peeking, got it? Or else you'll get a faceful of flash bomb!"

Auron just shook his head, realizing that he had a lot on his hands now. He turned to the lax Hypello, asking, "Two bottles of your strongest, please." The Hypello thought nothing of it and complied, unaware of Auron's secret, raging love of alcohol.

Rikku, once upstairs, flopped on her bed, in the middle, next to Yunie's old one. She sighed, glad to be in the comfort of a real bed after last night's ordeal in Zanarkand. She watched the dizzy spiral and rush of clouds as they streaked past the great, picturesque windows, framed by a perfectly azure sky, smiling to herself. Because Yunie and Paine had long since split up from the Gullwings, she'd been lonely for awhile, the only girl on board, even when she'd tried raising a few, cute chocobo chicks she'd found abandoned in Zanarkand a few weeks before.

"Kweh!" came an audible chirp from below. Rikku instantly brightened and leaned over the bed, delighted to find her favorite of the two Chocobo chicks, who distinctly wore a little red kerchief around its neck for quick identification.

"Hey, what's up, Auron?" she giggled, smiling at the fact that the little chocobo shared its namesake with her husband-to-be. She took it in her hand falling back again, the little chocobo landing on her breastbone, chirping uncertainly.

Reality hit her like a ton of bricks at the realization of what had happened in less than twenty-four hours. Auron was alive; that in itself caused her to shiver with both joy and sorrow, and yet his new found existence as a revived human was still too much to come to terms with. It felt like a beautiful dream that you felt like was simply doomed to end. And getting married... She was the proper age, had Sin still been a purge to Spira. Girls married as young as fifteen, but in the age of the Eternal Calm, such a practice was being questioned. There was talk of raising the age to nineteen, or even twenty-one, for girls, making her realize how unsettled the Eternal Calm made people, despite the facade of peace she and her friends had fought so hard to create and maintain. And the prospect of marriage, while seeming inviting at first, loomed over her. Would it spell an end to her adventures? Auron, being the age he was, had enough adventure to sate two lifetimes. Life in Spira was an adventure in itself, and what he went through had taxed his soul to the limit. He was an old soul who desperately wanted to plant roots, but even Rikku knew that her dreams of marriage and having children were left in the back of her mind, her first priority being her thirst for adventure. She was afraid of pushing Auron to his limit when the older man only wanted to spend the rest of his days in peace.

She sighed, her eyes widening when she felt the needy peck of Auron, the chocobo chick. The miniature bird cheeped, glancing over at the small dresser plaintively. Rikku started suddenly, remembering what she'd come up here for. She was doing it for her fiance...she blushed hotly, the word sending waves of embarrassment through her body.

Rikku swallowed and took a deep breath, plunging her hands into the first drawer and removing every article of clothing her fingers touched. When practically all of the contents had been emptied, she picked through them, finding something she liked. Dissatisfied with it, she tried again and again, neither meeting Auron's specifications nor suiting her tastes.

After an hour or two with endless mixing and matching, she found something that she thought looked cute, immediately changing into it. It was a black see-through halter top, a gold-colored tube top layered over that. For bottoms she wore a pair of form-fitting white shorts, a floaty, translucent piece of cloth surrounded her waist, split up the front. She liked the feel of the fabric, the way it ghosted with her movements. For footwear she decided on a pair of brown leather boots, cut almost like the ones Yuna wore with her songstress outfit.

For her hair, she decided to undo the bandanna and ponytail, feeling it float to her back, an odd sensation for her, so used to keeping her hair up. She kept the braids in, liking them too much to part with the style. Satisfied with her new look, she tossed on a few bangles on one wrist and a dainty charm bracelet on the other, keeping on her favorite red and yellow scarf and feather adornment in her hair, left over from two years ago.

Excited to see Auron's reaction, she stuffed in clothes at random in the dresser, soothing the bedsheets hurriedly. She found the platform and jumped from it, gladly forsaking the stairs.

"Booyaka! Rikku's in da house!" she exclaimed, receiving only a startled glance from the nervous Hypello. The blue aquatic humanoid could only glance down at Auron, the man who was supposed to be wide-eyed at her new look.

Instead, the crimson warrior was slumped to the counter, making Rikku blanch at the overbearing stench of alcohol, her nose wrinkling.

"Barkeep, what happened?" she wailed, nervously poking Auron, the man's rock hard form unresponsive to her prodding, casting worried looks at Barkeep. Her eyes spied two empty bottles of Nog...the same stuff in Auron's jug!

The Barkeep threw away the two bottles, blinking once before speaking. "I wash unawesh of Nug, yesh? I do nots know of its effects, yesh?" His eyes darted to the empty glass in Auron's hand, and tried to gently pry it from his vice, but failed as Auron's hand refused to release it, even while passed out.

Rikku groaned, facepalming before resuming her investigation of the former guardian, huffing in annoyance.

"Alright, we're gonna have to get him upstairs, so you're gonna have to help me, okay? Don't worry: I'll try to lift most of his weight. I just need a little help...uh, dragging him upstairs," Rikku instructed brightly, smiling sheepishly while glancing at the stairs, swallowing at the thought of conquering this daunting task.

Carefully she took Auron by his armpits, 'oofing' at how much he weighed. He weighed a ton! With all of his armor and heavy clothing, it made it even harder considering that Auron was extremely buff and toned for his age, and his build was more stocky.

"You, know what?" he voice tipped and cracked, exerting most of her breath to keep Auron in her arms. "You don't have to help me, just tell Brother that I'm helping Auron get settled—" her voice punctuated with a squeak as Auron slumped downwards, "—so just tell them that if they ask, okie dokie?" The Hypello nodded thoughtfully, languidly stepping from the cabin area and leaving them alone.

Rikku's nostrils flared in exertion as she dragged Auron up the stairs, hauling him upwards at almost every step because of his overbearing weight. "Yaaagh!" she breathed angrily, watching as his feet dragged over the stairs in little leaps, and yet Auron seemed to be peacefully asleep. Her eyes gazed longingly at her bed, and she determinedly hauled him to it, finally laying him down upon it. She rearranged his body so that it was straight, everything where it should be.

Asleep, Auron seemed like another man altogether. His brow was relaxed, his breathing soft. Everything about him seemed softer, his features less chiseled with worry or stoicism. Rikku sat at his side, stroking the side of his cheek, thumb brushing over his scar, feeling its stark contrast to the taut skin of his face. The warm sunlight outside suddenly burst forth, engulfing the room in a warm glow. When Rikku's eyes adjusted to the onrushing light, she was met with Auron's features highlighted warmly, his coat an intense and passionate red, the silver accents glanced off light like stars. His cowl was still high on his face, his sunglasses providing him with even more coverage.

Her heart taking off into her throat, she was suddenly met with a strong desire to become more intimate, which she gingerly complied to. She adjusted Auron's head to rest on her lap, the swordsman releasing a relaxing sigh as she did. She found his long queue of hair, pulling it out and twirling its lustrous blackness in her fingers, then moving to stroke his hair, eliciting another contented sigh from him. She gently removed his glasses, her fingers stroking his cheek relaxingly.

"You know, Auron, I hardly know anything about you. You always kept to yourself, always so strong and stoic for the rest of us. Before we get...married...I want to know everything about you. You can let your guard down..." she began, secretly hoping that he couldn't hear her.

"I know that I can't be perfect, so I'll need you to tell you what you want of me, okay? There's probably a ton of women out there so much better for you, women who could comfort you better, maybe understand your loss better. I'm probably too young and naïve to understand what your life has been like, but maybe I can change that. I mean, I might be able to understand you better...since what we went through together is something not a lot of people can understand. I'm not really sure, but maybe...maybe I'll give it a shot. No, I know that it's something that I have to do. You fought for us, and protected us all...ready to sacrifice yourself again for your friends... It's the least I can do..." Rikku finished in a whisper, feeling a sudden drop slide down her cheek and land on Auron's cheek. She hastily wiped it away, trying to keep herself from falling into melancholy. Not now, when she had every reason to be vapidly happy!

The recourse of his death seeped into her mind, so fresh and startlingly vivid. The blood weeping from the wounds that scarred him today lay testament to his lifelong trials, and she shivered at his dismal yet noble death at the hands of Yunalesca, feeling her hands begin to tremble. Like a child, she reached for Auron's gloved one, trying to glean at least an ounce of his courage, his bravery. Instantly, she felt relief emanate from him into her, feeling truly secure.

The swordsman steadily opened an eye, unnoticed by his young bride-to-be as she gazed dreamily out the window, struggling with her emotions, of happiness and bittersweet sadness. He admired her new look for a moment, liking how it made her more humble, yet still keeping in touch with her creativity and personality. She looked vastly different with her hair let down, braids remaining, framing her profile with sun-kissed cascades of long blonde hair.

He released his hand from its crimson sling, reaching out to gently brush the back of his hand against her smooth and soft skin, regaining her attention.

"Oh, Sir Auron! So, how's your hangover?" she asked teasingly, taking his hand and resting it on his chest. The older man quirked a brow, but then lowered it.

"I heard everything." This caused Rikku to blush furiously, hiding behind a wave of golden hair in embarrassment. He brushed it away, tucking it behind an ear, now making her burning countenance easy for him to see. She bit her lower lip, averting his eyes.

"You did? But, I thought you were really drunk..." Rikku trailed off, suddenly extremely shy of Auron. And it had little to do with her new look.

Auron chuckled to himself, turning her chin so that those unfathomable emerald orbs were affixed on him. "I've built up quite a tolerance, it seems. Besides, the liquor I drank was actually very weak. Don't you think I would know better than to get extremely drunk?" Rikku nodded slowly, he adding, "Your new outfit becomes you. You look very beautiful, Rikku."

This sent her up into dizzying heights of embarrassment, making her shrink away from him, getting up off of the bed in a rush. Auron propped himself on an elbow, struggling to stand. When he did, he enveloped Rikku in his arms, the young girl starting sharply.

"What's wrong?" he asked soothingly, the young girl suddenly overwhelmed with an inundation of embarrassment. She recoiled from his touch, landing squarely against his chest, feeling the strong vibrato of his heart. He liked where she was, holding her even closer.

"I...don't really know. It's just, it's so much at once... You coming back, and us suddenly getting...married. It feels too surreal, too alien to be true... I just don't know what to think, what to do. Help me, Auron..." Rikku pleaded, turning against his chest, feeling his warm breath against her hair as he bent down slightly to kiss the crown of her head, holding her to his heart.

"I said that I'd protect you, didn't I? Don't worry about anything; I'll figure out everything for you, for us. You've done enough, loving me. It's the least I can do for you," Auron said softly, his voice soothing her. She circled her arms around his waist, her hands barely touching again beneath the obscurity of his long and thick haori.

An arm moved around her waist, another to her shoulders, almost completely engulfing her. With his head resting on hers, his strong arms enveloping her, she felt impossibly secure, like he anchored her in her maelstrom on thought and feeling. She was completely enraptured by his subtle, pungent scent and the feel of his wall of a body protecting her own.

As they pulled apart, she heaved a sigh, feeling happier and more secure. She edged provocatively to the edge of an unbarred section of the upper cabin, Auron quirking a brow. As she moved to leap down, Auron scooped her into his arms with unbelievable speed, only his heavy boots gracelessly thumping on the floor as they landed. Electric pain surged through his body, making him wince slightly. He was getting too old for this, closing his eye as the pain met his mind. Rikku seemed unaffected, though.

Rikku laughed, choking out giggles. She immediately sobered, then gazing at him tenderly. "Close your eye," she instructed gently, stroking a wisp of stray hair away from his face.

She circled her arms around his neck, completely smothering the cowl down. Sure that he wasn't peeking, she came in for a tender kiss, Auron immediately molding his lips to hers, leveraging his neck to make the contact sweeter.

Rikku shivered pleasantly, like she had just this morning. Auron, while radiating the aura of the strong, silent type, she could just tell that he was a passionate, feeling man on the inside who was willing to journey to the ends of the world to protect those dearest to him. And now, she had this pillar of strength and fortitude to herself.

She withdrew, although Auron followed her lips hungrily, stealing but a kiss before she motioned for him to release him. He did, although it was done with extreme reluctance. Something about her made him unable to relinquish her even to the independence she so craved, the freedom to live her life. She brushed off her clothing, rolling her shoulders, windmilling her arms for a few revolutions.

Auron hugged her irresistible form, the young girl giggling. "Wow, you're such an old softie! You must've kept all of your _luuuuv _pent up for so long, huh? Well, hey, no worries! You can hug me all you want...except, uh, once we get to Luca and return to the bridge that is."

Both exited the cabin, Rikku energetically racing up to the lift, mashing the button so they could reach the bridge, Auron following placidly in tow. The lift started its slow ascent, Auron being the one to break the silence.

"I don't want you to call me Sir Auron anymore, even in front of other people." Rikku turned to him, eyebrows knit in befuddlement.

"What, why? It's respectful, isn't it? I mean, your reputation dwarfs mine, and you're older, and—"

"As my wife, I don't want you to alienate yourself. Marriage is an equal partnership, and as your husband, while we may defined roles, honorifics like that will demean our relationship and confine you to a level unsuitable of your relationship to me. Forget your preconceptions and call me whatever you like," Auron cut in, staring stoically ahead, becoming the man she'd become accustomed to.

Rikku smiled devilishly. "Which means that I can call you Sir Auron," she quipped cheerfully, rocking on the balls of her feet smugly.

"Alright, let me redefine what I said last: you may call me whatever you like, except anything with honorifics or titles," Auron reinstated, sighing tiredly.

"Okay, how about Big Bad Meanie? Big Meanie? Big Bad Warrior? Badass Dude of Awesome? Muscly Dude of Badassery? Badass Dude?" Rikku riddled off, smile growing wider.

Auron gave her a crippling eye, making her smile sheepishly and wave awkwardly. "Please, just call me Auron," he sighed in exasperation, his gloved hand reaching to massage his temples.

Rikku coughed once, trying to clear some on the tension between them, achieving in only creating more. She sidestepped once, and when the lift stopped, much to her grateful relief, she sprinted ahead and surged through the door, leaping over the rail and landing squarely, quietly, on her feet, soundless compared to the heavier Auron.

"We're in Luca, and we've just docked. Perfect timing," Shinra said nonchalantly, ever engrossed in his endless work. Rikku flashed him a thumbs up, but was met with nothing, as per usual. Her enthusiasm was wasted on the smartest idiot she knew.

Skipping over to Brother's side, she watched as his fingers whizzed over the luminous controls, docking the Celsius to their allocated docking area, generously gifted to the last High Summoner in Spira's history, one of the many perks of attaining such a high degree of honor. Of course, being one of her guardians and related by blood to Yunie didn't hurt, either.

"Ah, Sir Auron, welcome back," Shinra greeted, swiveling around and standing to face the oldest guardian, Auron acknowledging him with a slight inclination of his head. The young Al Bhed sat down again, resuming his work.

Rikku felt a tingle creep up her spine as she felt Auron's protective eye on her, feeling overpowered. She timidly ignored him, pretending to focus entirely on what Brother was doing.

"RRRiiikku?" came the high pitch of Brother's surprise as he surveyed his little sister properly, his eyes widening to epic proportions. Rikku shyly looked away, blushing again for the umpteenth time today.

"Cehla frah tet oui fyhd du cdynd muugehk bnaddo yht hud mega y ruugen?" _Since when did you want to start looking pretty and not like a hooker?_

Clearly insulted, Rikku balled her hands into fists and shot back, "Yht cehla frah tet oui fyhd du cdynd muugehk mega y dydduuat parasudr yht hud mega y hunsym kio?" _And since when did you want to start looking like a tattooed behemoth and not like a normal guy?_

Brother gasped and shot up from his pillot seat, raging, "Fro oui meddma—!" _Why you little—!_

"Bmayca, cdub ynkiehk. Huf, ev oui bmayca, mayja ran ran ymuha yht mad ic uvv." _Please, stop arguing. Now, if you please, leave her alone and let us off._

The siblings glanced over to the owner of the voice, surprised that it'd come from Auron and not Buddy or Shinra. Rikku stuck out her tongue and started to head on out, glancing once at Auron gratefully, the swordsman's eye following her as she started to leave.

She blushed slightly, something in her feeling flattered that Auron had learnt Al Bhed. Why he did, she wasn't sure, but it made her happy nonetheless.

* * *

><p>In but a few minutes, a large metallic gangway was lowered in the front, allowing space for both former guardians to exit side-by-side.<p>

Rikku sucked in a great lungful of the crisp sea air, admiring the glinting shards of diamond on the turquoise water's surface, watching as a pair of gulls diving and wheeling through the perfectly azure sky.

Auron watched her, although he seemed immune to Luca's natural charm.

"Rikku." The girl in question was pulled from her blissful rapture, her silhouette outlined by a bright halo of sunshine and sea.

Auron walked up to her side, getting a bit too close for comfort. She stepped away, the warrior somewhat piqued as to why his fiance seemed too shy to face him.

"Alright, this is our itinerary for the day: I need to find something important, as well as build up on supplies. Can you hang around Luca and then meet me at Luca Cafe at dusk? We need to leave for the last ferry to Kilica so we can spend the night there and leave for Besaid first thing tomorrow. Do you have enough gil for today?" he asked, motioning to reach for his money pouch.

Rikku's eyes widened. "Ooooh! I left in in my old skirt that's on the Celcius! And they've left already... Well, at least I have all of my weapons and stuff..." Rikku mumbled dejectedly. While she did have her trusty pouches from her old outfit, she didn't have a gil to her name, having gambled it away awhile ago...

"I can always go and battle fiends. No big deal. I'll probably have enough from one battle to last me the day, anyways," Rikku shrugged, smiling in satisfaction at her plan.

"Absolutely not," Auron refused firmly. "I don't want you stepping outside of Luca, and I refuse to have you battle one monster. Stay within the city and stay away from battles."

Rikku pouted, folding her hands. "Auron, I helped defeat Sin AND Vegnagun. I think I can handle anything Spira can throw at me," she reasoned, a little intimidated by the firmness in his words.

He rubbed his temples, sighing in exasperation. "Rikku, please...just put yourself in my position for one moment. I don't think you realize how much I worry for you. Have you considered the injuries you could sustain while in battle? And don't you dare think of gambling...who knows who might roll around to take advantage of you given your fame. Please, I've lived my life worrying about others. I don't want to have to worry about losing you...like I lost my friends...like I almost lost you." Auron stroked the side of her cheek, making the young girl lower her head, ashamed.

"I'm sorry..." Rikku apologized in a small voice, earning a final pat on the head from Auron.

He reached into his money pouch, gifting her with a thousand gil. A small sum by her thieving standards, but she knew that she wouldn't have used half as much in one day anyway, even in Luca.

Rikku brightened again, her demeanor morphing into the chipper girl who always brightened his day. "Alright, so you later, you meanie!" she called behind her to Auron, soon dashing away from sight, rounding the exterior of the blitzball stadium.

Auron clenched his hand into a fist, his eye closing once as if in prayer. "Please, be careful," he whispered before disappearing to follow his own agenda.

* * *

><p>Rikku giggled happily, twirling once, a cathedral ring of spires drifting in lazy succession as she did. Many people recognized the cheerful young thief, many a people recognizing her despite her new look. Many men wolf-whistled, and women complimented her, saying that she looked cuter than before, reassuring her that she'd always be cute, of course.<p>

Her day always seem to bubble up in excitement upon coming to the bustling port side town, a stark contrast to the sagely contemplation of Bevelle or the sinister aura of its depths. The great, watery dome of Luca Stadium glistened richly like stars in the fabric of the night sky, like a sea coming to grace the land.

Already she'd bought a few souvenirs, which consisted mostly of baby toys and accessories for little Vidina, an autographed blitzball for Wakka, a Luca Goers mascot for Lulu, and a pair matching leather snap bracelets for Tidus and Yunie. She was absolutely clueless as to what she could get for Auron... She swallowed nervously, feeling her hands start to tremble again, feeling ashamed. Her father didn't know, her friends didn't know...and she was afraid of what they'd think of her, marrying an older man, especially Auron of all people. Brother had spilled the beans, telling their father that his daughter was planting roots in Besaid to live with Yuna and Tidus, Auron never being mentioned because Brother had been led astray by the swordsman into believing that he'd be leaving to return to Bevelle to straighten some affairs out, only going to Luca as a courtesy because of friendship. So now Cid was going to be fly over to Besaid on the Flying Circus to congratulate his daughter for giving up her risky lifestyle for a more domestic one. As far as she knew, her father was probably in Besaid now paying his respects to everyone...she sucked in a shaky breath.

A finger tapped her shoulder. Startled, she turned to see a very familiar face. "Cute girls shouldn't be sad, especially you," the voice said, proffering her a moogle plushie which she hesitantly took.

Her face split into a smile of recognition at the sight of Gippal, and he hugged her in a friendly manner, which was strange considering how hostile she'd been to him but a few days before. Regardless of how he felt about her, first and foremost he was still a friend of hers.

She hugged him back, but kept contact minimal. "Hey, Gippal, sorry about what happened a few days ago..." she began awkwardly. When she saw him distracted by her new look, what with his un-patched eye roving over every inch, she raised her voice a little. "Uh, Gippal?"

"Sorry, but I'm lovin' your new look and 'do. Looks really cute, pretty smokin' to boot. So, how've ya been? I'm glad I found you; people were asking me where my girlfriend was, walking around with a plush like this, heh," Gippal explained, cocking a crooked smile.

"Um, yeah, so what're you doing here?" Rikku asked, detracting for the awkwardness of his introduction.

"Blitzball season's starting, and as co-founder of the New Spira Front, they want me to preside over the first few days of games, so I've been in Luca for the past few days helping 'em start up. Baralei and Nooj're here, too. So, what brings _you_ here?" he asked, countering her question.

"I'm here with a friend. One of the guardians who was with Yuna in her pilgrimage is with me. He left me alone for the day, so I'm all by myself."

Gippal slouched over comfortably, leaning against a random post and hooking a thumb in a pocket. "Well, I'm free today as well. Why don't you and I chill for the day? Just as friends, of course," Gippal abated, holding up his hands for a second placatingly.

Rikku broke out in a smile. "You will? Sounds like fun! Luca's no fun on your own, anyway." She hugged the plushie closer to her chest, making him smirk smugly off to the side.

"There's a little street fair being held around the stadium, you wanna go there? They'll probably let you and I have free goes, considering our stature," Gippal's voice rang, making Rikku nod her head enthusiastically.

"You bet!" she gushed excitedly, following Gippal as the two left side-by-side, part of the ringing laughter pealing through the plaza merrily, the people of Spira reveling in their second Sin-free Blitzball season.

* * *

><p>"Oh my, look Lady Rikku and NSF Head Gippal over there! They make quite a pair, don't they?"<p>

Auron's ears perked to their conversation, struggling to return his attention to the small audience before him, gathered in the cafe, eager to have their questions answered by the legend himself. He spied out the window, brows furrowing in jealousy at the sight of Rikku hugging the moogle the boy had gifted to her, oblivious to Gippal's painfully obvious flirtations. His fist clenched when he saw her depart with the damned boy, disappearing into the colorful throng of Spirans.

"Lady Rikku...her change is so refreshing! It's like her fashion changes after every major event in her life. Maybe we should do the same!" the women gossiped, giggling grating on his nerves. It was like the world was conspiring against him, mocking him for trying to claim one of the most highly desired young women in Spira. She was a celebrity; he was a ghost from a distant past.

"Please excuse me," Auron pardoned himself, a dangerous aura overtaking him. He would be damned before he'd let that damn runt dare take his Rikku away from him!

* * *

><p>Rikku readied the dart in her hands, tongue poking out of her mouth in cute concentration. Gippal was holding her bag of souvenirs and moogle, held in slack hands, admiring the cutest Al Bhed in Luca as she took aim at a configuration of balloons. Her arm shot out and hit the three balloons dead center, earning her a giant Cait Sith that she handed off to a little boy who passed it on to his mother, the woman bowing in thanks.<p>

"Hey, thank you, Lady Rikku!" the boy exclaimed gratefully, his blue eyes dancing as he ran to embrace her. She hugged him back, laughter ringing like bells.

Gippal tapped the child's shoulder. "Here, take this: it's magic charm to give you luck for the rest of the games," he said, offering the boy a string of beads affixed with a dangling chocobo feather.

"Gee, thanks Mister!" the boy exclaimed again, running into his mother's waiting arms to gloat over his two souvenirs.

Rikku smiled, her eyes softening. "That was really sweet of you, Gippal."

He just waved a hand in dismissal. But as they walked a little further, they came to one of the dock entrances. Having amused themselves and crowds of children for the few hours, they sat among arrays and towers of crates, settling for an area blocked away from mainstream traffic, probably only having to worry about a few stray deckhands at the most.

They each took crates perpendicular to each other, Rikku sitting with her bag of nick-nacks and hugging her moogle to her chest, bringing her knees to her chin, toes tipping off the edge of the crate. Gippal slouched back, hands and legs askew, eyes gazing into the lazily drifting clouds.

"You know, Rikku, I think the greatest gift wasn't just the Eternal Calm, what Yuna and you guys gave us. Whenever I see the smiling face of a kid, I think to myself, 'This generation doesn't have to wake up to nightmares of Sin. They don't have to watch sendings, they don't have to pray in the temples...but most all, they don't have to live in fear anymore.' They're not going to grow up like our folks did, like we did. To them, Sin will be nothing but an ancient dream, a tale to tell their kids at night when everything's calm. You and I, Rikku, we're the last generation who was involved in the fight against Sin. We're it; and I hope someday, my future wife and I can raise kids who'll doubt that Sin ever even existed. I want to think that it's just a story we tell to scare them when they're bad." Gippal glanced at Rikku, she knowing who he was talking about, the wife in his dream...

Rikku sighed, looking aside. "Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. But, you're forgetting what Sin was: it might've been something really disasterrific, but there were people, their souls, who died at Sin's hands, who became Sin. They might've even become a part of it. Sin, to me, it's a memory, a giant, colossal reminder of their, everyone's, sacrifice. People died it fight it, but just as many people died to become it, part of its memory, its creation. And, if I had kids who forgot their sacrifices, who doubted its existence...I think that I'd die of a broken heart, right there on the spot. It's just too heartbreaking, what I've seen, what I've seen people go through. If future generations forget, I think Spira would be nothing but a giant, broken heart..." Rikku finished softly, sniffing. She felt the prick of tears at the corners of her eyes, a flood of unpleasant memories inundating her mind, and she gave up. She began sobbing, reliving Auron's death, Home's destruction, the sacrifice of countless people before her eyes, Yuna's bitter torture because of her fate, Jecht and Tidus squaring off, reconciling, Tidus finishing his own _father_ off...

Gippal took her in his arms, holding her, letting her cry on his shoulder, loosely patting her back. He understood all too well the pain she endured, especially with the destruction of Home. And yet, there was more pain and discord in this slim little body then what people saw. She was a beacon of hope in the gloom for Spira's people, inspiring them with her unique sense of strength. And yet, she was hurting much more than people understood. Beneath the grand titles and wide recognition, there was a small girl prone to vulnerability and who was still shell-shocked by the events in her life.

"Rikku." The girl turned her head, eyes met with a sole one that now possessed a great deal of jealousy and hurt. Her eyes met with Auron's, but another shout pulled them all away.

"Head Gippal!" A gasping man called. "The Chocobo Eater is on a rampage, and it's getting dangerously close to Luca! We don't have any Crusaders to defend us, and it's somehow brought a whole slew of fiends with it! It's already slain several people; we're not sure how much longer we can hold it off before it overtakes the city!"

Gippal suddenly became deathly serious, and eyes on a speedy looking machina cruiser laying to rest nearby. He seized Rikku's hand and forced her to sit in the back, and she complied only out of the great need to protect the people of Luca. Auron clenched his hand into a fist, stalking forward, ready to steal Rikku away from Gippal, even if he had to use force.

Barely a foot away, Gippal revved up the engine with an angry snarl, and pulled back the thrust on the handlebar, they surging forward with surprising intensity. Auron's eye widened in shock as Rikku and the boy sped away, left with the passing vision of her clinging to Gippal for dear life, gossamer half-skirt and billowing blonde hair tugging in the wind.

* * *

><p>The speeder he chose was surprisingly nimble, with slight hover capabilities that allowed him to clear stairs. In a matter of minutes they were able to zip through the city, dodging through throngs of people. Throughout the whole ordeal, she had no choice but to hold on to Gippal as tightly as she could, the look on Auron's face playing over and over in painful replay through her mind.<p>

Her tears were seared off by the relentless blast of wind, causing her to shrink down to cling to Gippal's lower back, hugging close to prevent the harsh wind from displacing her. She watched as people fled through the city, the escapes of pyreflies as they trailed hauntingly over dead bodies, making a shiver course down her spine and fresh tears to build in her eyes.

Suddenly, as swiftly as they'd made their needless escape, they made haste to where the battle was raging the most intensely. They skidded to a harsh stop, Gippal rising, taking Rikku's hand, kneeling at the side of the landscraft and speaking softly.

"Rikku, I could really use your help right now," he begged desperately, glancing nervously at the battle, at the screams and gunfire.

Rikku rose, building what little courage she had in her heart. "I'll heal whomever I can; you join the fray, alright? I'll be at your back as soon as I can."

Gipppal nodded, summoning his weapon through magic in complex arrays of light that pixelated his weapon in his hand, and he dashed off to join his comrades, casting one final glance to Rikku.

Breathing in steady concentration, she raised her hand with a sphere in her palm high, letting orbs of soothing light envelop her, more light engulfing her body and descending, changing her outfit to that of a white mage. Staff in hand, she rushed to the forefront.

The chaos was desperate and the bloodshed intense as they rapidly began loosing men to injury, they being the final barrier between the untamed Mi'ihean Highroad and the fragile tranquility of Luca.

Rikku rushed to the aid of the first victim she laid eyes on, and blonde-haired man clutching his bleeding side. She knelt beside him and steadied her breathing and cast Cura, binding sinew, muscle, and tissues back together. Small beads of sweat formed on her brow, and when she was finished, the man blinked, gaping in wonder, the only thing remaining was a bloodstain in his side. He touched her shoulder in thanks, taking his gun up again and shouting as he dove back into the vicious fray.

She did this with as many people as she could, taking several minutes and healing every injured man and woman in sight, soon healing them all...at least those who hadn't perished. She huffed in exertion, and screamed as a pack of dingoes descended suddenly dove over her, their maws open wide and in hungry greed at the sight of the vulnerable girl.

"Yaaagh!" a fierce battle cry sounded, fierce blasts of crimson colliding with the beast, they falling asunder.

Rikkku peeked wearily to see Gippal grin weakly at her, he returning into the advancing tide of fiends head on. "Gippal!" she weakly screamed after him in protest, scared for him now.

With no other choice, she spent her only bottle of Elixer on herself, cursing herself for her meager supply of healing paraphernalia, limited to but a few potions and high potions, with maybe one or two remedies. She'd have to use them sparingly, for she had only prepared for light travel, not a battle!

Taking another dress sphere in hand, the sequence of light again descending on her, she became a Gunner. She cocked her guns back and became a part of the fray, using Scattershot and Trigger Happy on as many Fiends as she could, taking out about a dozen, but it wasn't enough. Men at both of her sides began to fall, their disarray and the bestial frenzy of the Fiends reducing their numbers drastically. She began to panic, dispensing the last of her items to the comrades beside her who accepted them gratefully, able to continue the fight if only for a bit longer.

Gippal soon took to her side, they combining their abilities briefly as they assailed another pack of dingoes with a hail of bullets, Gippal springing to finish them with his weapon's saw, it buzzing and then stifled as it cut the fiends throats with sickening crunches and spatters of blood that peppered his face and clothes. Almost everyone was drenched in blood, whether it was of Fiend, human, or fallen, was indistinguishable.

As they finished off another pack of dingoes, Rikku despaired when she realized that she'd only brought with her the most basic garment grid, able to affix only two dresspheres to it. And she was completely out of mana, and her bullets were running out quickly.

Another realization drove her even deeper into despair when a devastating roar broke through her moment of weakness, and her eyes widened as the Chocobo Eater itself cantered over to her, bellowing hungrily at the fallen Chocobo behind. It roared with burbling undertones, and when Rikku shot at in a desperate attempt to protect herself and the injured Chocobo, she shakily poised before it and shooting haphazardly where she could.

The beast burbled grotesquely in pain, its lolling tongues flapping as it shook its head, literally _shaking off _the bullets that had lodged themselves in its tough, armor-coated hide. Glaring at her, it charged with a haphazard trot on stocky, scaled legs, swinging its abnormally long and large appendage at her, connecting with her and the fallen Chocobo.

Rikku didn't know what had hit her as a surreal moment of slowness took her. When she and the now dead Chocobo finally hit the ground, she coughed up up blood, gingerly touching her abdomen, weakly gazing at the blood that had accumulated on her hand, sticky and warm and coating it like a glove. Her hand fell, as did the last of her strength, and she watched in completely disabled silence as the Chocobo Eater stalked over to them, mouth salivating when it lay eyes on the young girl and the fallen bird, seeing her as a little morsel to flavor the sweet Chocobo meat. Rikku felt tears build in her eyes when she realized that she was going to die...

"I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE HER!" came a viciously fierce cry as a garment of red flew to her protection; the distinctive blade of the Celestial Weapon, Masamune, was thrust into the beast's maw, piercing through the roof of its mouth, almost lancing through its nasal cavity, which in itself was a considerable feat, seeing as its bone was normally impossible to strike through, even with the aid of a Celestial Weapon. The only way that could be possible was if the wielder possessed an uncommon level of strength.

Auron unleashed a deafening cry, extremely similar to the one she'd heard at Zanarkand, only this was raw and real, playing out before her in the present.

Even though an unbearable amount of pain kept her still and silent, tears still continued to build in her eyes, she overwhelmed by how protective Auron was being of her, a testament to his love for her.

The Chocobo Eater savagely tore itself free of Auron's blade, snarling ferally. It swung its arm at Auron, only to be met by his blade, they colliding but Auron only skidding back a few inches at the most. As the fighting of the minor fiends began to dwindle, a few men watched in awe at the unmatched strength of the legendary guardian Auron, occasionally shooting at a few choice fiends left over. Even Gippal was left in awe, he stopping completely, realizing that this was the stuff of legend, a living legend.

Auron growled savagely himself, twisting the blade so that the fiend's arm was pinned to the parched earth, and he raised the weapon high...slicing through muscle and sinew almost effortlessly, the blade digging into the ground as the severed limb began to violently recoil, twisted and turning madly in the brutal agony that it was. Blood sputtered like hose to the ground, quickly staining the ground in the shade of life and death.

The Chocobo Eater was momentarily crippled, but it was just as deathly stubborn as Auron, both making it a fight to the death. Every spectator knew that they had no place is assisting the legendary guardian, falling to destroy the last of the ensuing chaos, pyreflies rising in thick accumulations into the sky, choking out the sun with their supernatural beauty and cadence of light, scintilating as one unified body.

The fiend staggered to stand, matching Auron's deathly gaze with its own, both opponents furious at the other. Auron's rippling muscles were spattered with the beast's blood, although his clothing and armor were totally intact, while the fiend had lost one of its arms and was losing blood fast, the road becoming a river for its blood.

Auron splashed through, the pyreflies' sun-consuming light glinting wickedly off his blade. Deciding that it wanted to be the victor, the beast blindly swung its arm, which sailed over Auron's doubled over body harmlessly, the man now a true, merciless predator.

"You die now!" Auron cried, the feral cry ripping dryly from his throat, fueled only by sheer anger.

He charged at the beast, and at the junction of of its shoulder and massive limb, he sliced cleanly through, needing to hack thrice because of its impossibly tough flesh and armor, but succeeded in severing it cleanly, the limb repeating its flailing and mad twisting. The Chocobo Eater was now beginning to _whine, _staggering backwards, its cries pitiful and desperate, rising to a heart wrenchingly nauseating high; a normal person who've shirked away in fear long ago, or would've been too weak to continue.

Gippal had finished defeating his onslaught of fiends, his stomach churning sickly at the sight of Auron's merciless slaughter of the Chocobo Eater. He turned green and threw up into a nearby bush, spitting out the disgustingly acrid aftertaste. He found Rikku and ran as fast as his sickened and deathly weak body would allow, almost spilling his guts again when he accidently caught another fleeting glance of Auron's battle, his merciless _torture _of the fiend.

Ripping off his torn sleeves, he used the roundness of his weapon as a prop and his sleeves as a dismal pillow for Rikku. To his utmost fear, Rikku had completely blacked out and she seemed to be losing blood fast, it accumulating rapidly at her sides. Gippal wanted to slap his hands over his ears and escape to the safety of Lucan city limits, as all of his able-bodied comrades had done, but he couldn't, what with Rikku in the condition that she was in, he too weak to even dream of carrying her back.

The road was a desolation of bloodied and mangled bodies, slowly beginning to be reclaimed into the air as pyreflies, although it was a slow and time consuming process.

All he could do was shut his eyes as Auron fought on.

And that's exactly what he did.

Auron easily dodged a series of lashes from the Eater's weakening legs, its entire body on the verge of death. With his eye and intent steeped in pure bloodlust now, he dashed the the beast's front, its eyes wide in pure fear, releasing a salvo of terrifying, pig-like squeals with merciless intensity on those unfortunate enough to hear upon the sight of Auron.

Gippal's hands were shaking intensely, the Eater's cries pounding through his mind like a death knell. Never before had anything scared him so much, except the sight of Sin just a few years ago when he thought he was going to die, at its mercy.

Rikku's dressphere had faded long ago, having shimmered gently away, leaving behind clothes that were bloodstained and torn asunder. Gippal lifted up Rikku's shirt, blanching more than he thought possible. Before him, the girl's delicate skin, on her abdomen, was completely flayed and blood bubbled and burbled and released other sickening sounds. Working quickly, he poured several doses of high potions and elixers over her, and magically, the skin began to consume the wound, bones snapping and regrowing, organs moving back into place and healing, blood vessels merging and repairing circulation.

At the sight of Gippal tending to Rikku, _his _Rikku, a jealous rage was added to the already insatiable bloodlust that had now consumed him. Memories of Gippal escorting Rikku away, of him letting the girl cry on his shoulder, of him spiriting her away, and now this...it alone fueled the final blow to be dealt.

Auron held the extremely heavy sword high, smashing it into the Eater's throat, cleaving through its neck, it crying desperately and wildly as Auron hacked his way through, until he at last he cleaved through the spine, ending the beast's cries forever.

Pyreflies began to seep from its orifices and open wounds, drawing into the sky with the accumulating cloud already present. Gippal skittered backwards, about several yards before dashing off purely out of fear, where he reclaimed the borrowed cruiser and sped off, no doubt to rejoin his men and be treated alongside them.

Auron's eye all but softened, the momentary bloodlust and jealousy subsiding into a growing protectiveness and tenderness, as he gazed upon Rikku's unconscious form. Her features were delicately beautiful, as if asleep. Her clothing was bloodstained, but fairly intact, like his own, requiring only a simple washing to remove the stains.

He staggered over, his muscles and body aghast in protest, but no words were uttered from his lips in pain as he pulled the now impossibly small girl into his arms, cuddling her close, sighing out all of his tension as he held Rikku's soft form against his rigid own.

Standing, he lifted her into his arms, cradling her small form against his own, holding her high against his chest. Behind him, his sword faded away into the Pyreflies, waiting to be summoned again by its master.

He began a tiring and interminable walk back to Luca, and although it was but meters away, it seemed as if it were days off.

He was suddenly greeted by uproarious cheers, consisting of the brave few who had fought for the their city and dozens of civilians, all of whom had heard of how Auron had single-handedly slain a Chocobo Eater with nothing but his strength and a sword.

Ripples of disquiet permeated quickly as those who saw the dismembered body of the Eater not even a hundred yards away, sending women dashing away and men who protectively watched over them into silent throes of nausea. The scene was so distressing that the people dispersed and rushed back into the city, only a few white mages remaining to preside over Rikku and Auron, both of whom needed immediate treatment.

* * *

><p>Even when in the city, Auron was still fiercely protective of Rikku, casting a powerful glare to silence any gossipers, viciously preventing anyone from so much as touching her, which sent ripples of gossip throughout the throngs of people, who cleared the way for him, he at the guidance of the white mages who had reserved Luca's finest and largest inn for the treatment of those brave souls who'd fought so valiantly for their city.<p>

"Sir Auron, please leave the Lady Rikku with us, we need to heal her," pleaded a young white mage once the pair had been assigned to a room, the most luxurious suite in the hotel. Auron reclined against the headboard of the room's only bed, Rikku in his arms possessively like a limp doll, glaring at anyone who dared approach. Because of the story of how Auron had slain the Eater single-handedly, and rather brutally, everyone became skittish of the legend and were too shell-shocked by fear to dare nearing him. He was now a devil in fierce possession of his angel.

Exasperated, the young white mage rushed from the room with a flourish of her robes, and moments later, she came in with a much braver High White Mageon. The woman was grandmotherly and matronly in appearance, and when she instructed the young girl to close the lavishly carved double doors, Auron knew that she meant business. While not as afraid as the young girl, she certainly was nowhere near to being fearless.

Auron stroked Rikku's hair with a bloodstained hand, a hand keeping her close to him, grasping her thigh.

"Sir Auron, with all due respect, why do you possess this child so jealously? She needs healing immediately," the woman demanded firmly, making Auron mistrust her somewhat. "You've already cultivated a rather fearsome reputation for yourself, and now with your addled image as a ruthless and ungodly powerful man, you're only making this poor girl suffer by denying her healing. Don't you realize that you were placed her together because of your possessiveness over her? We assumed that being healed together would satisfy you."

Auron's hand created a bloodstained streak on her thigh as he shifted her upwards, speaking finally, too exhausted from the battle to argue. "We're engaged to be married. This girl is going to become my wife very soon."

The older woman was taken aback, well aware of their considerable age difference, but then she soothed herself. "Ah, she's quite young, isn't she? My late husband was ten years older than me when I wed him at eighteen...however, that's no concern of yours, is it?" the mageon asked, sapphire eyes set in cracking rivulets of skin softening their practiced edge.

Auron glanced down, studying Rikku's angelically peaceful features. "She's the only woman to yearn, to love me, for me so passionately. If you could understand the ordeals she went through for me, the heartbreak, and the unrelenting sadness, you'd understand why I'm willing to do anything for her. She loved me even when I was absent from her life for too long. And I yearned for her just as strongly, my heart aching for her while I walked in shades of life and death. I don't think that you or anyone else could possibly fathom the depths of my yearning, my absolute devotion, for her."

The mageon sat upon the bed in an unorganized heap of robes, gazing into Auron's sole eye, seeing the radiating waves of love for the girl that consumed its amber richness. "Do you love her enough to let her be healed, or do you even care for her condition?" she asked grimly, the woman standing to her full, authoritarian height, but a few inches shorter than Auron.

The woman fearlessly, yet gently, took the young Al Bhed in her arms, Auron needing many gentle prodings and reassuring words to let her do so. He was again struck by how small and fragile Rikku appeared, even in the arms of an older woman.

"There's another, adjacent bathroom you may use, Sir Auron. Please take the time to clean yourself thoroughly, while I will clean the girl. I will treat like one of my daughters, so please, rest assured that she will be in good hands." The mageon disappeared with a rush of robes, locking the door behind her securely.

Bathing for Auron was but a thoughtless muddle in his mind, but it was refreshing as well, stripping down to his naked form and soaking away all of the disgusting impurities, letting the blood, grit, and otherwise accumulated grime from his travels float away, basking in the cleanliness of his skin and feeling renewed after scrubbing through his hair and over his body, forsaking the needless perfumes and shampoos for the water only.

Finishing at long last, her could distinctly hear the sounds of several other magi moving about, so he chanted a small incantation, one of purification, over his clothes which cleaned them immediately. It was a shame it didn't work on dirty people.

Changing back, the young magi fled as he emerged, the same as before, only much more pristine in his cleanliness. They all stumbled to bow respectfully, mumbling apologies and averting their eyes.

Auron acceded to their shyness and ignored them for the most part, sitting at Rikku's side, the girl not wearing her original clothes and instead adorning a simple, white linen frock, her soiled clothes probably to be taken for a proper washing.

He sat at her bedside, stroking the side of her face lovingly, the flowery scent of perfumes only enhancing her beauty. To his utmost relief, she shifted, turning away from his touch and flipping to her side, although her eyebrows crinkled and she whimpered helplessly, clutching a pillow, tears streaming down her face.

The High Mageon shushed the young mages, all of whom were much older than Rikku it seemed, they seeming to be very aware of Rikku's impending marriage to the much older swordsman.

Once the mageon had shooed away all of the younger mages, she proceeded to give the couple privacy, only to be met with Gippal. He silently debated with her, insisting that he be let in. When she stated why they were to be left alone, he suddenly grew angered and stormed in.

Auron greeted him with a warning glare, keeping the younger Al Bhed in his place, the events of hours before settling uneasily into the forefront of the boy's mind.

"Rikku, I'm going to get you out of here!" Gippal thundered in defiance, knowing full well that Rikku was only asleep, fully healed.

The girl in question shot up, reeling, her eyes wide and frightened as she wobbily began to stand, delirious as to her surroundings, the situation, the guns that were no longer in her hands, the intense shaking and sadness that overtook her and the blood that wasn't there and the fallen chocobo and the Eater—_oh Yevon the deaths, Auron—_

She collapsed into a heap on the ground, tears spilling over, too overwhelmed to think straight. She began bawling, pathetically curling into herself. Auron stooped to the floor, taking her on to his lap and holding her protectively, the young girl curling into him, the only one strong enough to keep her sane, from shattering.

She opened her eyes slowly, realizing that the man who held her _was the same one who brutally tortured that fiend to death...all because of her! _

"NO!" Rikku screamed, beating against him and hiding in a corner. Her small form became wracked with sobs, causing even the stoic Auron to gape and grasp for the words to say in failing stutters. Gippal flew to her side, she crying and bawling into his chest, the tears never seeming to cease.

"It's too much! Oh Yevon, just take me away from this place! I can't take it anymore!" she wailed, face burning red, eyes scrunched and tears pouring from her eyes heavily, hair wildly strewn around her in her pitiful confusion and extreme fear.

"What did you do to her?" Gippal accused venomously, holding tightly on to Rikku's quaking form. Her wailed became louder, even muffled in his clothing. She clung to him, legs curled into her violently trembling body.

"I should ask you that! You dragged her away from me, and put her at the front of battle with little support! If I would've foreseen that battle, I would've avoided Luca and headed straight for Besaid! What else should I've done? **I was protecting her from your grievous error!**" Auron shot back, making a move towards her, crouching, his heart breaking at how she shivered away from him, sobs quieted in fear, eyes locked into his before wildly cowering behind Gippal, her body practically in a seizure she was quaking so badly.

Gippal stammered, at a loss for words. "What makes you think I should be the one to blame? As a former guardian, she was ready to sacrifice herself not only for the Lady Yuna, but for the people of Spira! I thought that a guardian such as yourself would understand that! What gives you the right to rule over her and decide what she should and shouldn't do?"

"She's my fiance, my wife-to-be! I have _**every right**_ to be concerned for her!" Auron shouted, his voice nearly cracking. He stalked over and shoved Gippal aside, forcefully pulling the thrashing girl into a vice-like embrace, she screaming brokenly, "No_No_**NoNO!**" against him, pounding her small hands into his rock-hard chest with more tears pouring freshly from her already raw eyes, cascading down burning hot cheeks.

Auron mashed his lips against Rikku's, the girl screaming into his mouth and squeezing her eyes shut, thrashing as fiercely as she could. He held fast, refusing to give up on the love of his life.

After several minutes, every sign of struggle subsided and Rikku went completely limp in his arms, too exhausted to fight back anymore. Auron released contact, kissing her one last time tenderly, her eyes dazed and wide, lips slack, looking completely innocent. Auron stroked away the hard lines of tears marring her cheeks, cuddling her closer on his lap, kissing the crown of her head, her cheek, both cheeks.

She weakly touched his chin, then his cheek. "W-What happened, why did you both—" she stammered, words too constricted in her throat to be spoken.

Gippal had been watching, blinking stupidly the whole time, feeling a queasy sort of jealousy at what Auron had just done, but also realizing how fiercely protective he was of the girl, of how inhumanly strong he was and well-guarded she was against any kind of threat, what with his awesome display of power on the battlefield and for Rikku in her hardest time.

"I guess there's really no chance for me, is there?" Gippal sucked in a breath, whistling through his teeth as he did so.

Auron glanced once at Rikku, and while not totally listening, he gave Gippal some partial attention. The girl below him had calmed, her eyes in a daze, she turning her attentions to Gippal as well, watching him with utter vulnerability in her eyes, partially hiding herself within Auron's haori, the man holding her gently there, resting his head on the crown of Rikku's, the girl hugging him even tighter, Auron holding her around her legs as well.

Gippal jealously could see how protected and safe she looked, like a kid hiding under a blanket during a thunder storm, shivers still coursing through her body, causing Auron to respond with whispers and stroking of her skin. During such a severe panic attack, Auron was able to not only able to stop her, but he became her sanctuary in no time flat.

Auron finally responded, shifting his head only slightly. "What chance did you have in the first place? She and I have been harboring our mutual feelings for two years, and she even went so far as to propose to me first. Like it or not, this is the woman who will be my wife, and I will do whatever it takes to protect her. I've been without love for too long, and when a woman like her steps into my life, all third wheels will shatter and be destroyed."

Rikku took in a shaky breath, calm returning to her eyes. She pushed Auron away a little, but still clung to his body, seemingly unable to let go.

"Gippal, you're a _reeeally, really _nice guy. It's really obvious that you are, but...everything Auron said is true. I don't want to spend the rest of my life with anyone else, and I don't think I could even if I tried. I'm not the woman you're looking for, and I'm sorry, but this is the man I'm going to spend the rest of my life with no matter what," Rikku said suddenly, serenity returning to her crystalline jade eyes. She relaxed into Auron, the tension melting away from her body as the swordsman sighed in relief, kissing the crown of her hair, stroking her golden locks with peace finally returning to him addled by sweet relief.

"Guess the judges have spoke, huh?" Gippal sighed, rising to his feet, scratching a hand through his short, spiky blonde hair. "Alright, what about the rest of YRP?"

"They're taken, too," Rikku quipped. "Yunie's been engaged to Tidus for like over a month now, and Paine...weeeell, she's getting _pretty _cozy with Nooj, and I think he's gonna propose soon, if I'm not mistaken."

Gippal groaned, throwing up his hands in defeat. "Man, you're all so domesticated already! Did two epic adventures kill the years ahead of you for anything fun?"

"Yes," Auron and Rikku said in unison, she adding, "_Preeeeetty _much."

Rikku sighed and finally removed herself from Auron's lap, the swordsman following suit and hovering protectively behind her.

Gippal, before he could leave the room, was stopped by Auron's heavy hand, causing the younger man to flinch. Auron leaned in a little closer, whispering dangerously, "It would be wise if you chose, from now on, not to endanger the life of any other man's wife, is that understood?"

Gippal nodded stiffly, suddenly feeling a wedge crawl from beneath Auron's legs and sandwich their body between the two men. Auron looked embarrassed, but Rikku seemed completely unfazed, like such a thing was normal.

"Hey," she whispered, keeping her pitch suspiciously low, "don't kill him, okay, Sir Auron?" She kept her gaze off of either men, like she was a spy in a secret conference trying to keep them incognito.

Gippal just sighed, and waved a final good-bye. "Hey, as fellow Al Bhed, we should tinker around with some machina some time." Rikku smiled delightfully, nodding her head.

Auron quirked a brow, gruffly mumbling, "Tinkering machina?"

Gippal high-fived Rikku, and he departed, closing the door softly behind him.

Outside the window, a heavy blanket of darkness cloaked the night sky, Auron sighing at how they'd missed their chance to catch the Kilika Ferry.

Slowly, he felt in inexorable push, little Rikku forcing him downwards, though he fell freely since she really couldn't exert much force against him. It seemed that the world was slowed as they did, time letting him savor their delicious descent to the cloudy softness of the bed.

Rikku was splayed across Auron's abdomen, and she curled herself slightly, legs flowing off of his abdomen like lustrous silk.

"After what you did today, I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you properly, Sir Auron," Rikku whispered, her chin resting on his breastbone.

"Just do what you can," Auron whispered, gathering his arms around her.

Eyes glowing like spiraling emerald stars, Rikku slowly wound her arms around his neck, giving him the most blissful kiss he'd ever experienced as they slipped away into the night.

* * *

><p>Last thoughts: Yeah, not what I originally intended, but I'm not complaining. Please, don't stab me if they're too OOC, I haven't played the game in awhile even though it's my most favorite FF game of all time. They're remaking it for the PS Vita...which I will get and probably have some brain-imploding fangasm from seeing my favorite story in HD GOODNESS. I'll try not to make this series to lemony, but I may push a little...if the rating needs to go up, mention it and I'll get crackin' on the re-rating of this, okies?<p>

This series is lovingly dedicated to all FFX creators, everyone who created this life, and to all of those who kept the Legend alive. Square-Enix, if one of your employees ever reads this, you guys changed my life for the BETTER and you now own my soul. I want to work for you, even if it's as a busboy or whatever. I love you genius-people who weave stories that never cease to amaze, inspire, and touch our hearts! Please, continue this series forever! :)

~Peace, G.


	3. The Peace You Seek

_G's Heartfelt Tales of Auron and Rikku proudly presents..._

The Peace You Seek

(Warnings: T for safety, OMGztehdramaz, a revelation, truth, romance, a massage, 95% Aurrikku)

* * *

><p>Quiet rays of sunlight crept through the translucent curtains, giving them a blissful kind of incandescence that spread through every thread. The slight opening in the lightly framed doors allowed slight breezes to slip through, lifting and carrying them hauntingly for a few moments. Rikku sighed, enjoying the sight of their flight, feeling utterly relaxed and peaceful.<p>

She shifted to her left, seeing Auron's soothed features before her, he breathing softly, sleeping deeply. She sighed, the recourse of yesterday's events making a shiver course down her spine, a newly awakened fear for the man sleeping besides her growing within her chest.

Although she hadn't watched the battle in its entirety, what she did see instilled both fear and awe within her psyche that burned the memory of his brutality forever within her mind. The arm draped over her side and the other supporting her neck, while at once comforting and reassuring, had lifted the weight of the sword that had savagely slain the Chocobo Eater. From what fleeting, transient flits of gossip she'd heard filled her in on most of the story, although the badly dismembered body had long since become pyreflies.

Yesterday's panic attack hadn't been entirely been induced by the battle alone; while the death of people and the disposal of the fiends played a part, it paled in comparison to the fear she'd felt watching him, at how brutally powerful he was, at how he could lose himself so easily...all because of her. In the months she'd spent in Yuna's troop, not once had he ever become so vicious and merciless.

She turned to her right again, shivering, deciding to rise from the bed without disturbing Auron. Yesterday's battle had drained him, leaving him with little energy. He needed to sleep, and he needed it desperately.

Slipping through the thinly framed doors, she came to the sight of Luca being gently wakened by the creeping sunrise, light casting long shadows over the restive city. Not a soul walked the streets, nor was there any light emanating from a single window. The embrace of the sea was split by the path of sunlight, ripples the only interruption.

Rikku decided to free herself from him for a bit, so she returned inside, making sure that Auron was asleep as could be. Since she didn't dare test whether he was awake or not, she quietly went into the bathroom and freshened up, finding that her clothes had been washed and cleaned to look like new. Now changed and feeling a bit more rejuvenated, she quietly exited the room, darting down the hall and down a set of stairs.

"Hey, you're up early." Rikku whirled about to see Gippal, the man leaning against a support next to the reception desk. She smiled slightly, waving her hand at him.

"Morning, Gippal. Did they heal you really well?" Rikku asked as the older boy came to her side.

Gippal cracked his neck, making Rikku flinch at the sudden interruption of the morning quiet. "Never been better. Usually I never wake up this early. Whatever they did to us sure made a difference," he yawned, stretching his arms in front of him. "Hey you wanna take a walk around the stadium? I promise, no funny stuff, miss wifey."

Rikku nodded eagerly, her eyes suddenly downcast, which troubled her friend.

They walked a ways, and then he revived their conversation. "Hey, you okay? Whenever the topic of your relationship with that guy crops up, you always look kinda troubled."

Rikku sighed sadly, confessing, "There's just so much that's bothering me, Gippal! What will my friends and family think? What will happen to us? Will this mean that I can't go on adventures anymore? How soon will he want a family? Can I really be the same around him after yesterday? Is our age difference really okay?"

As they made way to the stadium, Gippal studied the sunrise for a moment, it highlighting his blonde hair. "Rikku, screw what everyone else thinks. You know what I saw yesterday? I saw a guy who's so Yevon-damned powerful who was willing to do whatever it took to protect you from that Eater. Do you know how rare that is? If that were me, I'd probably kill myself trying to fight it. When you went into a panic attack, I saw a guy do what most people would be too speechless to resolve."

Rikku shook her head, feeling this tired repeat of tears in her eyes. "But, I'm just so scared of him. I just want someone to tell me that it's alright and give me all of the answers."

"Well, for starters, it's not up to your friends and family who you fall in love with and where you both take the relationship. What will happen is that you guys will get married and live a great life on Besaid, since Auron mentioned it yesterday. If you go on an adventure, take the guy with you; if he's with you, I think he'll do anything to make you happy. What he did yesterday was protect you, Rikku, because he loves you so much; so just talk to him about it and lay your cards bare. As for your age difference, it might seem like a big gap, but there are tons of older dudes in Spira with wives way younger than them, so you're really not alone."

Rikku worked up a smile, scrubbing away her tears. "You make it sound so easy, Gippal. But—"

"Rikku, seriously, as a friend, you're just thinking about this too hard. You're already assuming everything is going to be terrible when it hasn't even happened yet. Are your family and friends really the kind of people who're just gonna abandon you just cuz you're gonna marry an older guy?"

She gave a flustered sigh. "I guess not, but—"

"No buts. Talk it over with Auron and tell him how you really feel. Don't you think you're hurting him by bottling everything up?" Gippal challenged, folding his arms as the two stopped before the C Dock.

"I guess I never really thought of it like that. Should I?" Rikku asked tentatively, looking up at the taller male with worry in her eyes.

Gippal just chuckled, whapping her good-naturedly on the back. "Hey, if my girl kept stuff from me, I'd be worried. I'd think, 'Yeah, she's probably just trying to be too considerate, but it's giving me grey hairs because I'm afraid I'm doing some thing wrong.' Come on, Rikku, that guy's doing everything he can for you. He just wants to make you happy; I doubt bottling everything up is gonna put his mind at ease. You'll just make him feel bad," Gippal said in a drawn out voice, beginning his sauntering gait anew as Rikku followed him to resume their walk.

"I wish I was as brave as you. I'm just really afraid of saying something wrong and hurting his feelings, or having him take it in the wrong direction," Rikku replied shakily.

"Rikku, I don't think a guy who can take down a Chocobo Eater single-handedly and can bring his girl back to normal after severe trauma is going to dump you or anything like that just because you have insecurities. Trust me, as a guy, he'll really appreciate it. Nothing makes a guy love his girl more than her trusting him no matter what."

"Yeah, I just wish I didn't worry about stuff like this so much. I want to trust him, but I guess I'm afraid of stuff that might not even happen..." Rikku faltered, laughing nervously.

She was silent for a moment, and before she could speak, he did for her. "He's a guy that doesn't come along every day. Auron...he's the stuff of legend. I don't think that you'll ever be unhappy if you're with him."

She smiled, nodding to herself. But, his silence begged the question, "Gippal, are you really okay? You seem kinda funny."

He shook his head, flashing a trademark smile. "Well, for starters, I lost any chance I had with you, Rikku. Pretty and awesome girls like you don't come along every day. But, I'll get over it, and there are plenty of lonely women out there... Kinda sucks that we're losing the most famous Al Bhed of our time to a normal, non-Al Bhed guy."

"Maybe, but you're losing her the best, non-Al Bhed guy in our time," came Rikku's rejoinder, tapping the tips of her fingers together and smiling.

"You guys are gonna be great for each other. Hurry up and get married already!" Gippal shouted, his voice echoing resoundingly through the shaded corridor, Rikku's peals of laughter joining it. "Well, at least I have you as a great friend. That's the next best thing, isn't it?"

"Yeah!" Rikku agreed, bursting with newfound joy.

* * *

><p>She shut the door as quietly as she could, her eyes fixated hotly on the knob as she shut it in place, breathing a silent sigh of relief as it shut with perfect precision, not a noise to be heard.<p>

"How was your early morning walk with Gippal?" Rikku flinched at the even tone of the voice, feeling the heat of a stare at the nape of her neck.

She turned to face Auron sitting amid heavily churned sheets, he blinking owlishly. She realized that Auron was unaccustomed to sleeping in so late, which it was, despite it being too early for real morning activity in Luca.

"How did you sleep?" the younger girl asked innocently, obviously veering from the subject at hand.

"Well, much better than you, it seems," he answered tartly, voice the chilly cool it almost always was. "I trust that you had an enjoyable walk. It's a splendid morning." His words drilled at her, done so deliberately.

Rikku lowered her head, heaving a defeated sigh, sitting on her knees sloppily on the bed. "Auron, I only asked him for advice. There's... It's just really complicated..."

"Which is why you could talk about it with someone besides myself." She felt a flash of indignation through her psyche, but calmed it, realizing who she was up against.

"Are you okay...with me being honest?" she asked helplessly, almost whimpering. He felt a twitching urge to embrace her, but decided to let her talk it out.

"Auron, I just don't know what I can and can't do around you. I want to be honest, but I'm just _really _afraid of saying the wrong thing and hurting your feelings. I've been obsessing over it because you've done so much for me...maybe even too much...and you've built this huge wall of expectation against me that I'm trying _so _hard to climb over...to get to you. You're doing so much to make everything perfect, and I just don't know how to keep up. I want to tell you how I feel and I want you to understand, even just a little," Rikku finished with a sad sigh.

Auron smiled a little, but then desisted. "Alright, tell me what's been bothering you," he said finally.

Rikku gave him a pleading look. "That's exactly what I mean! You're doing everything for me and not being even a _little_ selfish! You're driving me insane, and I feel awful because I hardly even _know _anything about you and yet look at Tidus and Yuna. They know everything about each other and they're getting married like us, and I don't know enough about you—I could probably learn more from the spheres—and-! And...please. Tell me how you feel. Say something, _anything_, please... Stop sacrificing yourself so much...please. I want to be the one to do something for you for a change..."

"Rikku, if there's anything you want to know, just ask. Because of our relationship, my story is your story," Auron replied, softly touching her cheek. She gazed up at him with watery eyes, then lunging for his neck with her arms, holding tightly. He held her in return, holding back any sounds as waves of pain permeated through his body.

She could feel his tremblings of pain, releasing him like she'd been shocked. "Ohmigosh, I'm sorry!" she cried apologetically, cupping her hands to her mouth. He tried to shake his head, but she remained unconvinced.

Rikku furrowed her brows determinedly, her voice becoming firm and assertive. "Lay down. I'll give you a massage, and don't you dare say no! I owe you _big _time."

Auron sighed, reaching over to faintly kiss her, brushing their lips together. She smiled into it, then letting him strip off his leather shirt, he having worn in through the night with his usual pants. She honestly wouldn't have been surprised if he'd slept in full regalia.

A blush crept across the face of the young Al Bhed as she watched Auron toss the leather shirt on a chair where all of his other equipment and clothing lay in waiting, his bulging muscles flexing with every little movement.

He studied her, his face free from the cowl or sunglasses, amber eye locking with hers.

"Wow, you're really hot," she said simply dumbstruck, causing his eye to widen and a gruff cough of embarrassment into a hand.

He really couldn't deny it. His face was oval-shaped with a squared jaw and ample lips, skin pulled taut and tanned over high-cheekbones and his full jaw. Stubble littered his chin and jawline in thin dispersions, his brows furrowed low, his scar cleaving a path over the right side of his face that only added to his mysterious masculinity. His hair was tossed back in random, spiky patches, blazes of gray streaking the sides and the single tuft of hair that escaped that fate; the long queue of hair escaped almost unnoticed over his shoulder. His body was extremely buffed and toned, much more so than any man she'd ever seen with broad, powerful-looking shoulders and a pair of guns any man would die for. His chest and abdomen were free from any aberrations of fat, what with a six-pack and full pecs. There wasn't a fleck of flab anywhere on his powerhouse of a body and Rikku could swear she was drooling in her enrapturing study of her fiance.

She shook her head, shameful of what she'd just said. Then, she took that action back, a perky smile alighting on her features.

"_Duuuuuuude_, Auron, why do you even bother hiding your sexiness under so much clothing and stuff?" she squealed. "Definitely the hottest hottie ever! You're such a hunk! Yevon, Mr. Sexy Man is in _daaaa_ house!"

Auron pretended to be oblivious, never hearing such praise on anyone's part, ever, especially of the female variety. He coughed again, feigning obliviousness.

Rikku crawled over to his lap, sitting demandingly on it. "Alright, _Sir _Auron, you've gotta stop being dense and come to terms with your hotness," Rikku began, trying to sound important and serious with adorable results.

He watched helplessly as she delighted in squeezing his biceps, poking his quads, and basically everything exposed from the waist up. "Yeah, my hotness-meter detects a large quantity of hotness named Auron!"

She suddenly stopped, realizing that Auron seemed a little too quiet. "I'm glad that other...aspects of me please you," he said shortly, finally. His eyebrow twitched in pain, and Rikku numbly realized how much pain she'd accidently caused him.

"Ohmiyevon, I'm sorry! Uh, it won't happen again, okay? I'll shut up and keep any opinions on your hot—er, physique to myself!" she abruptly promised, practically flinching from his lap and back on to the bed, comically berating herself with a few quick whacks to her head.

He put a hand to her shoulder, she instantly stopping. "It's alright," he placated.

"Huh?"

Auron sighed. "Say what you like about me. It makes me glad that I can make you happy." He smiled faintly before turning around again.

Rikku looked crestfallen, then feebly brightened. "Sorry, about that. Let's get to your massage, okay? I want to do something for you for once."

Auron dutifully listened to Rikku's instructions on how to properly lay down and the like, she soon beginning her blissful ministrations on his sore and overworked muscles, the build-up of years of tension melting away from her touch. She thoroughly kneaded through the worst of his kinks and soreness before opening herself up to what she really wanted to say.

"Auron, we really need to talk."

Although he said nothing, she assumed it was alright to continue. "I've actually had a lot of questions that I just wasn't sure I should ask you. Are you sure it's alright?"

"Rikku, I just said it was." She seemed a little hurt by his reply, but simply knew that his demeanor had always been that way. Eventually, she hoped that in the future he would learn to soften up more, if only around her.

"Alright, I'll lay my cards bare," she resolved to herself. She took in a deep breath, her fingers automatically flowing over sore muscles, seemingly repairing them with a magic touch. "What should we do about telling everyone, back on Besaid? I've tried thinking about it, but I'm just so afraid to tell them. Do you have any ideas?"

Auron shifted his position slightly, relaxing more deeply into the bed. "I'm going to announce it on the same day that we arrive, but only to our friends. Do you remember what I told you on the Celsius yesterday? Let me handle everything, Rikku. And leave nothing to chance. I've already said that you've done enough."

"Okay," she agreed hesitantly, readying her next question. "But, my father is going to to at Besaid by the time we arrive there. Have you thought about telling him?"

Auron tensed for a moment when she hit a tight spot, but then relaxed as it slowly became unknotted. "...I'll announce it to him, all the same. If he insists on making an issue out of it, which is understandable, I'll simply tell him that we will marry whether we receive his blessing or not."

A brief scenario of that flashed through her mind, and the thought of him wielding his temper against them made her tremble in anticipation.

"Auron, um, what about me? I'm not really sure I want to settle down on Besaid forever and never go on an adventure ever again. But, I know that you're probably sick of them by now..."

He chuckled softly. "I thought that this question might crop up. I'll admit, that yes, I've had enough of them for one lifetime. However, I acknowledge that you're still young and haven't had enough of the world. If there's anywhere you'd like to go, tell me, and we'll go together. As long as you don't go alone, it's fine."

When her delicate motions ceased, he craned his head to see Rikku with his head bowed. This alarmed him somewhat, so he sat up a bit, but waited for her to speak before reacting.

"I'll admit...yesterday, you terrified me. I've never seen anyone take down a fiend like that, and it scared me. I felt so scared that I wanted to _die_," she said in a pitifully small voice, shrinking away from him a little, "and I hate myself for it because I love you so much, but I'm afraid of you becoming _that_ again. Even more than being scared of you, I'm so afraid for you getting hurt or even—" She choked on the last of her words, breath hitching. Her tears had run dry, and all she could do was hold back pitiful whimpers, trying to keep everything bottled up again.

That was the final straw. He took her into his embrace, and she refused to fight back. Rikku clung to his feverishly hot skin, his waist, burying herself on his abrasion-battled chest, desperately fighting off the fear that wanted to ravage her psyche senseless.

He held her soothingly there, never wanting to let go. "I promise you that everything that I do is for you," he whispered, blanketing her with his arms and face, she faintly kissing his chest over his heart, nodding furiously.

She drew away a little, but the gulf between them never widened, ear to his heart. "Let's **fight** it! Everything that comes our way...I'm going to protect you! I've had it! If anyone or anything threatens you, they'll have to answer to me! I'm so _sick_ of you getting hurt! If anyone even dreams of harming you, I'll go insane!" she vowed fiercely, holding him possessively. "No one else can have you. You're mine!"

Auron released her a little, their eyes meeting. "It's no wonder I fell in love with you..."

Rikku furrowed her brows, assertively kissing him, forcing him against the bed. He gently complied, willingly following through with the girl's sweet audaciousness. She tested their limits even more when she took his wrists and held them arrestingly against the headboard, kissing fiercely. He let her direct every course of action, a hint of amusement filling him at the irony of it all, but he didn't dare let a trace of such contrast mar the moment.

She suddenly stopped, pulling apart, kissing him one last time before laying atop him on her stomach, suddenly exhausted. "I can't wait to get to Besaid. I'm _soooo _tired that I could sleep for a thousand years," she groaned, wanting sleep against her rock-hard hubby.

Auron just chuckled, stroking his girl's hair as she began to doze blissfully off.

* * *

><p>Their stay in Kilika, was, sadly, extremely brief. Although, it was a blessed respite on their part before heading off on the last leg of their journey.<p>

Boarding the ferry headed for Besaid, Auron had brought a plethora of provisions, not wishing to repeat the fiasco of yesterday. While Rikku had no knowledge of this, he'd resolved never to leave the girl's side until he was absolutely sure that they were safe and sound.

They were at the topmost part of the ferry, left completely alone on the whim of Auron, people readily obliging to the respectable guardian. Only a few gossipers joined them on their journey, thinking they were safe from Auron's keen eye and battle-sensitive hearing. And while the rumors circulating about his impending marriage with Rikku troubled him, he refused to let any weakness show before his cute fiance.

Said girl was standing on the tips of her toes as she basked in the cool sea breeze, overcoming the barrier slightly as she leaned against it, it sailing and billowing through her hair and gossamer half-skirt. Watching her so at ease was theraputic for him, because her joy made him happy.

"Auron, look, land ho!" Rikku pointed exuberantly, she smiling excitedly and beckoning for him to come to her side. Auron did so, regarding the oncoming island with peace in his eyes, although Rikku looked ready to jump over the barrier she was so jubilant.

Rikku studied Auron for a moment, glad to see that he seemed even more relaxed than before, even while fully armored and looking more suitable for battle.

He came to her side, they watching the rolling clouds and roiling sea, the azure sky above and the glistening turquoise sea below. "I'll be at your side, so just let me do the talking when the time comes," Auron said softly, taking her hand in his gloved one. Rikku leaned against his shoulder, feeling utterly at peace.

Even though milling passengers below could clearly see the intimacy between them, she didn't care. Let the world find out now; it was going to very soon, anyway.

* * *

><p>The sight of the small settlement of Besaid sent pleasant shivers down Rikku's spine, quickly dulling into a warming feeling of comfort that she thought she'd never feel again. Breezes carried and lifted leaves and palm fronds alike in harmony with the dull roar of the sea beyond, billowing through the vibrantly colored tent-like settlements as well.<p>

Rikku was glad to see that her father airship, the Fahrenheit, was no where to be seen, but she knew better. He was probably going to be there anyway, probably lurking around the village like a predator waiting to pounce.

She happily sprinted ahead, the villagers shouting greetings to her and Auron, especially so towards the older guardian. Auron merely nodded his head, characteristic of his behavior.

"Guess who~" she whispered, peeking through the opening of Wakka and Luku's tent, both smiling in greeting, not having seen her in over a month.

"Welcome back, Rikku," Lulu greeted first, smiling warmly, cordially inviting her to sit next to her on the couch, passing off little Vidina to Rikku, the tiny boy fast asleep in swaddling blankets.

"It's good to see you, Rikku, ya? He's gotten a lot bigger and stronger since you last saw him," Wakka said, reaching down to gently brush aside a wisp of orange, cow-licked hair from the infant's face, he barely stirring. Rikku looked up at Wakka, the proud father smiling in reply.

"I got a lot of things for everyone, but first...I've got some news for you guys..." Rikku said, directing her smile and gaze to the tent entrance. "Come on in."

Auron stepped through, sweeping aside the garish coverings. "I don't suppose I'm intruding."

Wakka and Lulu gaped, the black mage springing from the couch along with the former blitzball player, rushing over to the guardian.

"How in Yevon...?" Lulu stammered. She righted herself, bowing respectfully. "Sir Auron, it's so good to see you!" Wakka said more or less the same.

She folded her arms beneath her ample endowments, asking, "How did you return? Was it the fayths, by any chance, like how Tidus was brought back to Yuna?"

"Yes. It seems they were merciful, and one spoke with me, saying that it wasn't my time to die and that there was someone waiting for me who wanted me to live. That's what they told me, and that is why Tidus was brought back to life," Auron explained.

Wakka seemed perplexed. "Who wanted you brought back?"

Auron almost trained his eye on Rikku, but then resisted. "I have news for everyone. Could you please bring Yuna and Tidus here? They need to hear it was well."

Wakka balked for a moment, then nodded his head hastily. "Yah, yah! They're in the temple watching the kids, let me bring 'em over!" The blitzballer sprinted from the tent at breakneck speed, earning an amused smile from Lulu at her husband's antics.

Lulu sighed, turning to Rikku who smiled back, cradling little Vidina securely. She gave a small smile to Auron. "Regardless of why you've returned, we're all glad that you're back."

"The reason I've returned is a bit of a joint venture. I'll explain when they return momentarily. I see that you and Wakka had a child. Congratulations. What's the child's name?" Auron asked, going to Rikku's side and examining the orange-haired little bundle of joy.

Lulu lingered slightly behind, well aware of the swordman's need for space. "His name is Vidina."

"Al Bhed for 'future,' I presume? Ironic considering Wakka's former hard feelings for them," Auron stated, letting Rikku gently rock the sleeping child in her arms. Someday soon, he hoped the girl would do the same with their own child.

"Yes, but that's all in the past. Actually, Rikku supplemented the name when he couldn't decide. It's all thanks to her that he has the name that he does," Lulu said, smiling warmly at the memory.

"Glad to be of service," Rikku said in a drastically hushed whisper, gazing back down at the sleeping child with careful seriousness as she became his temporary baby-sitter. Lulu chuckled and Auron smiled secretively, escaping the notice of the black mage.

The sound of footsteps alerted Rikku and she felt her heart climb nervously into her throat. Lulu went over and sat next to the girl, gently encouraging Rikku to relinquish the adorable baby. The Al Bhed gladly did, feeling her hands begin to tremble. She lifted herself from the couch and went to Auron's side, keeping an inconspicuous distance between them.

"Sir Auron! Oh my goodness, you've returned!" Yuna cried breathlessly, rushing over to the swordsman and clasping her hands together. Rikku couldn't help but notice how much Yunie had changed, appearance-wise. She retained her hairstyle, but the older girl's clothes now consisted of a simply cut, sheath-like dress with a long over-robe layered over it, but spun from rich textiles crafted right there in Besaid.

"Aw, man, the fayth must really want to make my life miserable!" groaned Tidus, the older boy still adorning his outlandish clothing from dream Zanarkand. He joined Yuna at her side, taking her hand.

"Nah, just kidding. It's good to have you back, Auron," Tidus said, firmly shaking his former caretaker's hand, smiling brightly. "You hear about me and Yuna? We're getting hitched!" Yuna giggled, playfully batting Tidus's arm.

Auron gave an annoyed sigh at Tidus's lackadaisical attitude. He prayed for Yuna's sake that Tidus wouldn't do something stupid to endanger the girl. "Yes, Rikku informed me of the news. Which reminds me: I have news of my own that concerns all of you."

They were all rounded in an attentive circle, everyone waiting quietly for the former guardian to speak. Rikku shut her eyes, heart climaxing at its peak in her throat, face lowered and burning beat red.

"I will be taking up permanent residence on Besaid—" there was a brief interruption of congratulations from everyone but Rikku, although they stopped when his voice rose over theirs to continue "—but I will not living on my own. I've decided to get married."

Everyone closed in on him, sending him a well-received congratulations. They all gave him respectful adulation, all but Rikku who swallowed nervously.

"So, who's the lucky lady?" Tidus prodded teasingly, squeezing Yuna's hand encouragingly, causing the former summoner to smile quietly and blush.

Rikku peeked, never noticing that Auron had been wearing a simple, silver band on his left ring-finger. Auron removed that arm from its sling, kneeling down on one knee before Rikku. Much to the surprise of everyone but them present, the older man removed a more delicate, feminine version of his ring, it adorned with a single, sparkling diamond accented by beautifully cut green gems. He dutifully took Rikku's left hand and slipped it on her left ring finger, her body becoming exceedingly flushed.

When the deed had been done, Auron resumed standing, taking Rikku's right hand in his. "This is the woman I'm going to marry, and together we're going to live and start a family here on Besaid."

Yuna gasped, the news sinking in, but then she rushed over to Rikku after a moment and embraced her cousin. "Congratulations, Rikku!"

"Y-Yunie?" Rikku stammered, but then smiled at her cousin's acceptance, returning the hug.

As the shock began to disapate, everyone slowly came to their senses.

"I always thought that you two had something for each other. You're not as secretive as you'd like to think, Sir Auron," Lulu spoke, lowering little Vidina in his crib. She turned back to them, tossing some stray braids over her shoulder, her face softening. "You have my blessing though. While I do have some reservations about your ages, my father and mother married each other with quite a similar age difference, so you're not alone."

Wakka scratched the back of his head, releasing a long, drawn out sigh. "Yah, but that's not your only concern, ya know? You're gonna have to deal with her father, ya know? Fathers are never that willing to let their daughters marry, or at least let them go that easily, ya?"

Auron never missed a beat. "I've thought about it well ahead of time. If he doesn't give us his blessing,I plan to elope with Rikku." Wakka seemed a little eluded by that, but just nodded.

"Well, I'm just glad that you two are together, ya? I think you'll be happy with her, Sir Auron. She's a great kid, and she'll be an even better wife. Hey, Rikku," Wakka called out, gaining the girl's attention, she having been idly chatting with Yuna.

"Yeah?" she responded, Yuna looping her arm through her cousin's. Auron seemed a little put off by Yuna hogging his fiance, but he was used to being pushed into the background.

"Come over anytime you want. You can help out with little Vidina until you have kids of your own, yah?" Wakka winked, causing the Al Bhed to shyly look away.

"Hang on! Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this picture?" Tidus retorted brashly, folding his arms defiantly. "I mean, Rikku's only seventeen! I know that maybe it's normal for girls to marry young here, but don't you think Auron's a little old for her? Seriously, guys, it's weird how you all just jump on the bandwagon without taking this into real consideration. I highly doubt that her father is going to through with this so easily."

Auron's brow furrowed and he stepped forward, looming over Tidus. The boy gulped nervously, but stood his ground. "Come on, even you realize that, don't you, Auron?"

"I was well aware from the start, Tidus. But you've hardly been in Spira long enough to understand the full picture. When I harbored feelings for her two years ago, I was well aware. In fact, it felt more wrong to me than it does to you right now," Auron said, quieting his voice somewhat. "But, as time passed, I realized that Rikku had already grown into herself as a woman. She's not some immature child, and she's grown much in these past few years." He was cut through by Rikku.

Rikku timidly stepped forward, taking her chance to speak. "Tidus, you really love Yunie, don't you?"

Tidus face fell, his expression becoming less intense. "Well, yeah, since we're getting married and stuff."

"You know, what you've said...a lot of people would probably agree with you. But, I didn't fall in love with Auron for any reason. It just happened, like your love for Yunie did. I felt really bad for a long time, and I wanted to wish it away because it felt wrong to me, too, and I thought it was completely hopeless especially after he was sent after we'd defeated Sir Jecht... And yet, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't forget Auron no matter what. After two years, I just felt a lot older, more mature than most kids my age, even if only a little. Being with Yunie and being sphere hunters together and defeating Vegnagun, I think it made me realize that I wasn't just a kid anymore. No matter what I did, trying to forget him, I realized how much I'd fallen in love with him. And you know, no matter what you or anyone else says, he's the one for me and I want, more than anything, to be the one for him," Rikku said resolutely, moving to take Auron's free hand in hers, he squeezing it slightly.

Yuna took Tidus's hands with hope in her eyes. "Sir Auron was brought back by the fayth because he was just like you. My love for you brought you back, just as Rikku's love for Sir Auron brought him back. That's gotta mean something, right? They love each other so much, just like I love you, no matter what."

"She's right, Tidus," Lulu intervened. "You may be too young to understand now, but when you and Yuna have been married long enough, I think you'll come to understand why Rikku and Sir Auron's relationship will work out better than you ever thought possible. Besides, I heard a rumor from a Lucan traveling here who'd witnessed a battle that had taken place on the Highroad. Fiends had tried to overtake the city and Rikku here played a monumental part in the fighting. However, it was Sir Auron who had taken down the most dangerous threat on his own. He was protecting Rikku, Tidus, just as you would've done if Yuna had been in danger." Tidus seemed at a loss for words.

"My dad was a lot older than my mom, too. I guess...I just don't want to see you get hurt because of him, Rikku. He sacrifices himself too much, you know? It's kinda the complete opposite of my dad, but I know what my mom went through all too well, when she lost him. It'd really suck to see anyone else I know to go through that. Too many bad memories..." Tidus admitted hesitantly.

Auron came forward a bit. "I've already vowed my life to her, to do anything to protect her. I'm well aware of what happened to your mother, and what Jecht was like, and I will always have an example of what not to be like. Rest assured, I will take care of her, Tidus, just as I know that you will do the same for Yuna."

When a pal of brief silence settled over the group, there was one more glaring issue at hand: Cid.

"Do you know where we can find him?" Auron asked when the issue cropped up. Yuna looked uncertain, but then Lulu spoke up.

"He was resting in the Crusader's tent after fixing some machina around the island. You should be able to find him."

Auron tapped Rikku's shoulder, the girl giving one last hopeful smile to the group before motioning to follow.

"Hey, Rikku, if he gives you any trouble, bring him here and we'll back you up, yah?" Wakka called behind them, Rikku shouting her thanks as she and Auron quickly exited the tent.

The sunlight briefly blinded her, and she followed Auron, the man practically rushing her, completely unlike the more relaxed man from yesterday morning.

He turned to her briefly, instructing, "Let me do the talking, and don't speak unless you must respond to something. I know how to handle men like him, so just relax. I'll protect you no matter what." Rikku nodded firmly, her heart beating furiously once again.

The Crusader's tent was just as grandiose then as it was now, although it had been converted into an inn after the fall of Sin, the Crusaders having outliving their purpose. It rippled lightly in a sudden gust of warm wind, which did nothing to calm her anticipation.

Auron moved the entrance cover aside, not letting it fall again until Rikku and he had both passed through. She took in a deep, calming breath, following as they moved towards the back, her heart lifting somewhat at its vacancy, expect for her father who was stroking the luxuriant coat of a domesticated churl.

"Tytto?"

Cid turned his head, face splitting into a wide, proud smile. "Rikku, how have you been? Your old man missed you!" the middle-aged man exclaimed, he appearing to be much older than Auron, already his face craggy and his head bald.

"I've been good, tytto..." she glanced expectantly at Auron, her fiance stepping forward.

Cid reached out to firmly shake Auron's hand. "Sir Auron! It's good to see you in such good health! What brings you to Besaid?"

"I'm here because of your daughter," he stated bluntly but politely.

Cid's energetic smile fell, and he fixed a furious eye on Rikku, folding his arms stormily. "Has she caused you any trouble, Sir Auron?" he asked in a rumbling voice, making Rikku flinch at the sudden change in his demeanor. She swallowed; even though she and Brother had asserted their independence long ago, she was still afraid of him whenever he glowered at her as he was now.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something regarding her," Auron replied, taking Rikku's hand. Her heart took off even faster and a cold fear gripped her heart, making it almost impossible to breathe.

Cid looked surprised, lowering his arms. "Of course, ask away," he said, anger gladly faltering, although it flared up slightly again when he saw them clasp hands, threatening to become enraged.

"I'd like to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage."

Like thunder striking through a quiet, heavily laden sky, he flatly refused,"Absolutely not! No! She will not marry you and that's final!"

"Tytto, please!" Rikku begged.

"Stay out of this, and let go of this man's hand!" Cid ordered thunderously, reaching out to snatch her hand from Auron's.

Auron intervened, pulling her away from him before the Al Bhed man could do so.

"Are you refusing me, Rikku? Release her at once, _Sir_ Auron!" he snarled up at the Guardian, said guardian narrowing his eye dangerously.

"Even if you don't give us your blessing, I will elope with this girl," Auron replied evenly, Rikku awed by how cool he was being despite the flaring hear she felt for her father.

"Explain yourself, both of you! You're in a relationship, which I believe her too young to even be dating, and now you're suddenly getting married? What's the meaning of this?" Cid raged, bearing uncomfortably close upon Auron, the guardian keeping Rikku protectively behind him.

"I love this girl, and she loves me. We're getting married whether you consent to it or not, Cid," Auron said frankly, backing away slightly from the enraged man.

Cid collapsed to the bed behind him, taking in the picture of her daughter cowering behind a red wall of legendary strength. He suddenly saw his sister and Braska doing the same thing, happening when the now High Summoner, thirteen years older than his eighteen year old sister, had asked for her hand in marriage before their father. His eyes became clouded with nostalgia as he relived Braska being fiercely berated by his father, his far-off voice rocking through all of their nerves. Braska had been absolutely resolute, speaking softly yet politely, saying of how he'd protect the young girl with his life and guard her well as her husband, holding her hand through it all. He remembered how scared his sister had been, and yet she never faltered, translating any Al Bhed Braska couldn't understand in a constricted voice.

And now, a generation later, it was his own daughter doing the exact same thing, protected by a man who'd known Braska in life as a friend. On that day, after a long battle in mangled words and softly-spoken promises, their father had weakly acceded. That day, he'd promised he would never turn into his father, to let his children be freer and happy, vowing that he wouldn't be the same man who had torn apart his younger sister.

And yet, twenty years later, he was emulating the man he swore never to become.

"You look exactly like she did, like Yuna's mother," he said finally, the vigor drained from Cid's voice. "Lord Braska went through the same thing before he wedded my sister, and our father was exactly the way I am now. You remind me so much of her, Rikku..."

Rikku peeked around more, but continued to hold Auron's right hand, her left hand proudly bearing the wedding ring Auron had bestowed upon her just moments before.

Cid rose weakly, Rikku's face expression exactly like hers had been, striking a pang of nausea through his heart. The memory was overwhelming, and he decided to renew his promise he'd made to her before she'd been whisked away into a nearly blissful wedded life with Lord Braska.

"Sir Auron, seeing you two reminded me of my sister, and I know that you'll take care of her... She's my daughter, and there isn't another girl like her in all of Spira. Please, protect her like I've tried so hard to all of my life... She's so precious to me..." Cid acceded, the walls of his anger obliterated completely.

Auron placed a gentle hand on the man's shoulder, and the Al Bhed looked up at him. "That's all I will ever do for her. You have my word, that as my wife, I will do my utmost to ensure her safety and happiness." Cid nodded, Rikku suddenly enveloping him in a fierce hug.

"Tytto! E muja oui!" she cried, healing the hole in his heart.

Cid laughed heartily, hugging her back just as fiercely, making Rikku burst out into a smile. "I never thought I'd ever have the legendary Sir Auron as a son-in-law!" Rikku released him, returning to Auron's side and taking his hand anew.

"It makes me glad that you two are living on Besaid. My daughter...she's such a free-spirit, and I know that she'll be safe here. I'll be leaving in a little while, so enjoy the peace before the wedding, eh?" Cid exclaimed, slapping Auron's back jarringly.

Auron and Rikku left after saying a heartfelt good-bye, immediately returning to Wakka and Lulu's tent to share the good news.

Wakka and Lulu had taken the couch, while Tidus and Yuna occupied the floor around the table, all of them engaged in light but hopeful conversation. Little Vidina was still fast asleep, that being the cause for their hushed voices.

At Auron and Rikku's arrival, all four of them trained their eyes on the two expectantly, seeing the pair utterly deadpan.

Rikku give it away first, she quietly squealing into her hands, saying as softly as she could, "He gave us his blessing! We're getting married!"

Both older women rushed over to Rikku, Yuna gushing excitedly while Lulu's congratulations was more restrained.

The men walked over to Auron, Wakka slapping Auron on his shoulder. "So, how does it feel, Sir Auron, getting hitched? Trust me, when the novelty wears off, it'll be real smooth sailing, right, Lu?"

"Well, I'm sure it'll be that way for Sir Auron...but my days with the two most important men in my life are anything but dull, even here on Besaid, although I wouldn't have it any other way," Lulu said, gazing at Wakka and then the crib Vidina was resting in with affection in her eyes.

"You know...we should have a double-wedding!" Tidus exclaimed, pounding his fist into his hand with elated conviction.

"A double wedding?" Auron asked slowly, raising an eyebrow dubiously.

"Yeah, think about it: we all went on the pilgrimage together, so why not kinda...end it that way, you know? We all started this really important journey together, so having the wedding for all four of us would be really cool, kinda...symbolic, you know? And we're all gonna live on Besaid, so it feels really...right, I guess," Tidus finished lamely, although his words seemed to have made a bit of an impact.

"I like it," Yuna said simply, smiling happily as she slung herself around Rikku's shoulders, her cousin giggling happily, lightly.

"What do you say, Auron?" Tidus asked, grinning widely.

The man furrowed his brow in thought for a minute, than relaxing it and saying, "It does sound like a good idea, I suppose. Rikku?" He turned to his young fiance, the girl released by Yuna finally.

"I wanna do it so _badly_! One of the best moments of our lives...and we get to experience it as friends and family. Oh, hey, Auron! You'll be related to Yunie and Tidus...and I guess, by extension, Sir Jecht and Lord Braska..." Auron took her hand, squeezing it.

The ties he was making through this, though not shown, elated Auron. It was perhaps to ultimate connection to his deceased friends, and now, their children, whom had become precious friends to him as well. It touched him to the core, like the culmination of their experiences had finally become as one, and it seemed to be the ultimate reward for their struggles. He couldn't quite explain it, but it made him feel whole, after losing his friends had made him feel so incomplete and lost. It reverberated to his core, this monumental new truth, and finally, the endless sacrifices and trials now seemed worth it. Everything had come full circle, ending the cycle of pain forever. And now, his story was going to begin anew.

"Once you guys finally live on Besaid, it's gonna be great," Tidus said, taking Yuna's hand, the pair smiling to each other.

"I think we all deserve it, yah? After all we've been through, it'll be nice to be at peace together. We have a bond that can't be broken," Wakka said, taking Lulu around her slender waist, the mage smiling into it.

Suddenly, Rikku started to whimper, and cry. Auron knelt on one knee to look at the shorter girl, the others looking concerned.

"What's wrong?" Auron asked softly, tenderly stroking the side of her face.

"I-I know that this is gonna sound _really_ weird, but I just feel like a huge _weight _has been lifted off of my shoulders," Rikku choked out, suddenly throwing herself into Auron's ready arm, the other still in its sling. She clung to his neck, letting her have her final catharsis. "It's just, we've _all _been through so much, and now, it's like...this is it. We're all tied together, we can't be pulled apart...and we're just at peace. I feel like we're prisoners who escaped and they finally stepped into the light. It's just so overwhelming!" Rikku cried, smiling through her tears.

"Yeah, I feel the same, too," Yuna said, holding her hand to her heart.

"It's a nice feeling, like when we finally defeated Sin," Tidus agreed.

"Alright, something we can all agree on, yah?" Wakka said, grinning widely and taking Lulu around her waist, the woman smiling quietly.

"It's the consequence of our passion and love for Spira, even more, wouldn't you say? Nevertheless, it is beautiful," Lulu said.

Suddenly, Vidina's needy cries interrupted the climax of their happiness. Lulu broke from Wakka's embrace, rushing to the crib and lifting the child into her arms.

"Sorry guys, would ya mind leaving us alone for a bit? Lu needs to feed Vidina, yah?" Wakka said, grinning sheepishly.

"Let's go outside," Yuna suggested, taking Tidus's hand, the boy yelping as Yuna dragged her from the home.

Auron stood up, taking Rikku's hand the girl calling, "We'll be back in a bit. Call if you need help!" as Auron led outside as well.

Once outside, they sat in the bonfire circle, Auron deciding to stand stoically nearby.

"So, where are you guys gonna live? They're letting us live in the temple," Tidus said, stretching luxuriously in the warm sunlight.

Rikku looked thoughtful, then brightening. However, her face fell when she forgot, so she gazed at Auron for his help.

Auron threw a glance over to the area near the Crusader's lodge, the outcropping where the long-since abandoned tent lay, like a dismembered skeleton. "We're going to rebuild a new house and live there."

"Alright, but you're gonna need help. We're gonna help you out, whether you like it or not," Tidus said, smiling. Auron sighed at the boy's stubborn resolve.

"It takes a village to raise a child," Yuna quipped. "Everyone will want to help out. They're all really nice, too!"

"_Yeeeeeah_, I don't know the first thing about even pitching a tent, much less a big one that's going to be a whole _house_," Rikku figured, canting her head to the side.

"Yuna! Tidus! We kinda need your help in here, yah?" Wakka called, the couple springing to their feet. Rikku and Auron watched as they ran off, darting inside Wakka's tent.

"Rikku." She snapped around to see Auron offering his hand, and she took it, he pulling her around in an instant. "Come with me." She walked by his side as he took her down the small incline, they coming upon the abandoned area. Rikku shivered, it seeming chilling to gaze upon.

Auron stopped before it, starting to speak, "When I first saw this area ten years ago, it looked exactly the same as it does today. It seems to symbolize myself, after I'd died and wandered the world, caring for Tidus, living in a dream. Rikku, finding you ignited a spark of hope in me, and the instant you proposed I thought of this place. I thought that if we could renew it and make it whole, it would seem like the perfect beginning for us, like how I came back to you as a resurrected man."

"Auron, I saw how you were looking at Vidina today... You really want children, don't you?" Rikku ventured, squeezing his hands.

The man looked at her perplexedly, then relaxed. "Looking after Tidus for ten years...I suppose it did awaken something inside me. Yuna, too, when Braska made me promise to protect her. I suppose you're right... I think a part of me all along has wanted children, just as you say."

"For me, I think it'll make everything even more complete..." She took Auron's hands, gazing at him longingly. "Auron, I want to try after we get married. I want to create life...and create a miracle with you."

Auron's eye widened, and he looked at her intensely, her eyes wide and innocent. "You would do that...for me?" he asked slowly, wondering if he'd heard her correctly.

"Yeah," Rikku choked up, happy tears building in her eyes. "You always look so lonely. If we have kids, you'll be happy, right?"

He swiftly embraced her, holding her close. "You would do that...for me," he breathed again. No other request, no other gift, had ever been asked of him, ever. The union of two souls united in a new life...from what Braska had told him of it, it was an experience like no other, the ultimate happiness; the ultimate bond created from love. Even Jecht had expressed happiness after Tidus had been born, despite their disastrous relationship later in life.

Rikku pulled apart slightly, gazing at him lovingly. "I said that I'd do anything for you, didn't I?" She held a soft hand to his cheek.

He pulled her into a deeper embrace, they holding close despite the empty husk of a home before them.

Together, they would create a new life.

* * *

><p>Last thoughts: Gah, I really enjoyed writing this chapter~ I really hope that you enjoy reading it...and if you're lurking, tell me what you think of this story so far! You don't have to tell me now, since this arc isn't over, but tell me whenever you feel like it, okay? I can't wait to hear from you all~ Also, since Braska and Jecht's ages were never formalized, I thought it wouldn't hurt to guess, since Auron did seem like he was a lot older than the both of them. I kinda did it to justify their age differences, and make their relationship work out better. That aside, I love their relationship, no matter what! This arc will continue, and I've got it all planned out. I hope it'll make you happy!<p>

I was watching a lot of Aurrikku tributes today, and found out some cool facts about Aurrikku! Did you know that it's actually a really popular ship? It made me happy to hear about! Also, Rikku's character songs in X-2! Barefoot Trail and Without You just seem to scream Aurrikku~ It could also hint at Tidus/Rikku, but looking over the lyrics again made me think twice, and it definitely points to Aurrikku! Also, her dresspheres in X-2! Her samurai looks like a modded version of Auron's outfit, and I heard a rumor that she uses his catchphrases in battle... Which would be awesome if it's true! She uses his main sword, and in her Dark Knight dressphere, she uses his Masamune! Do I smell ship tease?

I really can't wait until FFX comes out in HD, so, to celebrate, I'm going to write up a super-special oneshot on its release day to celebrate! I'll take suggestions on what to write for that day, but I can't wait! I'll probably watch all of the **gorgeous** Japanese cutscenes and walkthroughs until it gets released here in the US and I get a Vita... I hope that you're waiting for it, too!

As always, this is dedicated to the lovely creators and fans who helped prolong and create such a beautiful game! FF fighting!

~Peace, G.


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